Altered Soul
by Tiger-ES
Summary: Ellone becomes familiar with the memories of Adel, Rinoa, and Ultimecia. She discovers Rinoa is Ultimecia! Who did she tell? Uses many chararacters, covering the final fight with Ultimecia to the very point where Rinoa becomes her alter ego.
1. Default Chapter

**Ill-gotten Memories**

This is my first fanfiction submission. I hope to hear from all who have read it. The first two chaptyrs will take you through the game's story and the parts that I have changed, but after that you enter the story of the Altered Soul. Each chaptyr will be approximately 2 pages long and easy to read.

Squaresoft owns these characters… for now! Hmwhahahahah!

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Ellone moved awkwardly over the rubble, stumbling despite Laguna's steady hand. Ellone wanted to turn and run at the earsplitting explosions of Meteor, but Laguna's tranquil face gave her the courage she needed. Laguna believed that this would be the final battle, and so did she.

Elle entered the room in which the combat was set. She saw a feeble Rinoa embedded in the Sorceress of Laguna's time. She gasped and covered her mouth and tears formed in the young woman's eyes, which were new to battle. She looked to Squall. Ellone hardly could recognize his misshapen face as her own little brother's.

Squall's face was contorted by his fury as he charged at Adel with his gunblade trailing sparks. Squall launched himself at the great Adel, swinging the heavy blade to uppercut Adel. Blood was splattered everywhere as Adel went flying upwards. She out stretched her hands attempting to get some much-needed energy from Rinoa, but in mid-air Squall brought the blade to her. Again, and again, faster each time Squall ran the blade across her flesh, always very careful of Rinoa. He hit her well over a dozen times before she hit the ground.

Adel landed on her feet seeming strong, but her bravado was short-lived as she coughed up blood. Death was upon her and she shook in her helplessness whilst light emanated from her body. She quickly gave the lesser sorceress her powers and looked towards the heavens. Gradually her face flaked away into non-existence. She hunched over and Rinoa slipped out from her chest.

Rinoa turned over and shielded herself for when Adel would fall, but her whole body flaked away slowly, but surely. Rinoa felt that familiar being take her body again. She stood up listing from side to side as her spirit struggled to keep control. The being put more force into her body and Rinoa was lost again.

The shell pointed its arms out to the side, ready to do Ultimecia's bidding.

Laguna recognized that she was possessed. "Ellone now's your chance." He gave a soft tap on her back.

She closed her eyes and bowed her head in concentration. She brought her hands together and a green light surrounded her. "(…Rinoa…)" Ellone found an image of her, and different colored lights streamed from Rinoa's body: blue, pink, red. The body had nothing in it and toppled over.

Squall watched her fall, but could only stand by until the process was over.

Suddenly Ellone was assailed with other's memories. The light-bulb memories in particular stood out jagged and poignant.

Hair ripped back, pulled to turn the face upward to look at a soldier in which she closed her eyes in refusal. Tears clouding the vision and falling over the side of the face barely catching a glimpse of a sharp knife that moved inward and carved the flesh red. The blood running into the eye, turning it scarlet.

Memories of catching a breath when looking up at Squall with a smile. Some of Rinoa's memories hit Ellone twice over. The repeated images were of Rinoa, but these were faded, and others distorted. Where friends once smiled, they now sneered at this dumb girl and left her astray.

Ellone frowned and tried to figure out what this meant, but then the answer was revealed in the torrent of memories. "(Rinoa became Ultimecia!)" she cried out within herself.

"Ok, Ellone."

She was called back by a familiar voice, and dropped exploring the memories further. She had a job to do.

Just get Rinoa back." Laguna whispered, with quiet anticipation. He was tenderly animated, his eyes dancing with a never before seen ecstasy.

Ellone called Rinoa back and the blue spirit united with the body once again. She opened her eyes and observed the frail girl that lay on the floor. She batted her eyes in disbelief that she would be their enemy. She turned to Laguna for answers, though he had no idea. He patted her on the head for a job well-done.

"Ugh…" Rinoa moaned as she rose to her feet. She held her head, her gaze fixed on the floor.

"(Does she know?)" Ellone asked herself. "Of course she would know… (She must've been within—)"

The weary voice of Rinoa interrupted her thoughts, "I… was inside Adel… The young Adel…"

Ellone found herself holding her breath, and sharply exhaled.

"is the showdown, folks! Time compression is about to begin." Laguna was saying.

Ellone's mind raced. "They will meet Ultimecia, and know," she looked at the last sorceress, "(…They will know.)"

Rinoa was listening to Laguna when out of the corner of her eye she saw Ellone staring dead at her. She looked at Ellone's face and was taken aback. This was not the usually radiant Ellone staring back. This was the look of impenetrable doom. Ellone's eyes were large and liquid, and her frown cut deep into her face. What was about to happen to them?

Ellone looked away and ran off the scene with Laguna. The floor became soggy and swelled underneath their feet. There was no time to worry about the future, Rinoa decided. And they fell through the floor and time compression was on the move.

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So there you have the Introduction. In the next chaptyr, you will find a different story indeed as the gang take on Ultimecia.


	2. What Went Before

I'm not good at narrating so, like… …Just read it some more!

Oh, and, I don't own these characters.

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Sorceress Ultimecia sat tall on her thrown in the light of the moon. She was waiting to meet the SeeDs that had managed to penetrate her defenses and congratulate them with fatality. She tapped her long fingernails on the solid gold arm of her throne and pushed herself back into the plush chair as she waited for her game. Under her breath she whispered a spell and ignited a hunger-less flame beside her to wash away the darkness. The light was cast on everything and what was reviled was a bitter, old woman who felt that she had lost her time. The time that had passed must be revived though she, being immortal, had all the time in the world. Time compression was her only hope, and anyone who would stand in her way will be slain outright.

The SeeDs decided to enter…

Ultimecia was shaken to see who it was. She looked at the young girl in blue… She saw a vanishing childhood. "(Was I ever that young)?" she wondered.

Rinoa didn't care for her gaze and leaned closer to Squall a bit for comfort.

"(And _him_…)" There he stood. All sorts of feelings stirred within the old witch but none of which was affection. Only sadness and anger moved her now.

"…SeeD…" She began only slightly irritated. "SeeD……SeeD……" Then another glance at the former SeeD, Squall motivated her to anger "SeeD, SeeD, SeeD! Kurse all SeeDs." she spat vehemently.

Her mind was foggy as she spoke. She was afraid to fight them. She knew what would happen. However, she calmly unfolded her legs and floated down to them on ebony wings. She quickly cast a strong spell. Darkness accumulated at a point and drew everything within it, pulling all matter and releasing it to whisk back like a rubber band. The three challengers all stumbled back and lent themselves near to the ground. The others called for them to step aside. Zell made a summon and quickly exchanged places with Squall who waved his sword in front of the sorceress.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA." Ultimecia cackled as everyone scrambled to cast Curaga. Out of the corner of her eye she caught a bright beam of light and a ghost-train whipped through her. It hurt like nothing else. She was not used to pain and this _hurt_, so she immediately retreated.

She floated high above their heads and threatened them. "The most powerful GF. You shall… _suffer_!" She would have her time compression even if it meant killing them all. She did not mind killing Rinoa; time would be compressed and they will live in a world beyond death.

She sent Squall's ring through the floor in a ball of light. Then like a zombie, Griever broke through the ground and pushed himself up. He hovered above the SeeDs on four fold wings. The black lion roared towards the heavens and held his massive paws out to the side. He brought his crowned head around to view those that he was commanded to destroy.

Squall immediately recognized the great GF, but didn't even flinch. He wouldn't be confused by her cheap trick, he decided.

"Griever! Make them bleed!" Ultimecia hissed.

"Griever…?" Rinoa whispered to herself. She looked to Squall for answers but he was in his battle-mode and closer to Griever then she cared to be.

The black lion dove straight at them and would have snatched the life out of them, if it weren't for Squall's quick thinking. He called on his faithful GF, Quezacolt who bolted between Griever and the SeeD party. Griever struck him, but the electric bird took the blow just fine. It flapped its wings to conduct electricity and it sent a much more stimulating counter attack that cast the whole area in a blinding light. When the light subsided, a grievously wounded lion was revealed, Quezacolt hovering above.

Smoke rose from Griever's singed hair. He saw that this bird was a mere GF and with a wave of his hand it was gone and so was Rinoa's Diablo.

"What?" Rinoa said as she lost her concentration.

Rage had gripped Squall as he watched his GF disintegrate at the hands of his admired GF. He felt like he could tear Griever to pieces and realized that Irvine had cast Aura on him. Irvine tipped his hat and smiled. Squall turned to Griever and flew onto him, slashing his sword across his steely skin. It would not break. Squall leapt back to his place and held his sword high above his head.

Irvine had begun to fire his pulsing shots as soon as Squall had moved (courtesy of Rinoa's Aura spell). He got in some really fine shots just before Squall brought his beam crashing down on Griever. Griever trembled with pain and with his last ounce of energy, he performed his special—Shock Wave Pulsar. Everyone was hurt pretty bad, but Irvy used Full Restore and they were all made anew.

Ultimecia had been sitting back all the while. She had noted the battle was different than she remembered and an evil smile crept upon her face even as Griever fell. "(I can change what will be. The future is now! 'Ultimecia' will not fail _this_ time!)" She got up and junction with Griever.

She didn't fight as hard as she should have and was destroyed quicker than Griever alone.

It didn't matter anyway, she thought. Time Compression was almost complete and she was waay more experienced than any of them. Still, somehow they found it in them to give her a severe thrashing. Perhaps she didn't fight with heart. It's true that she had a goal, but with sadness and anger she had no reason to fight… But she had to save herself. Her true form was losing, so she awakened and lent her true form the very apocalypse spell for which to kill them. She had them until Irvine spotted her swinging upside down underneath Ultimecia. Then they easily knocked her out.

Soon she found herself on wobbling feet moving towards a woman in black and… _him_. And her hundreds of years were over, just like that. Ultimecia finally found peace. If only she had known this was what she was looking for all along…she could have stayed Rinoa.

Rinoa was as bubbly as ever as she sat under Squall's arm.


	3. Restful Truth

Read on! You know you want to…

I write, not owning these characters.

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Ellone couldn't sleep that night. She tossed and turned in a bed that she had been rocked to sleep in before by the garden's gentle motions. But now the bed seemed hard, the pillow lumpier than ever, and the garden was making her sick.

It really wasn't any of these things, she decided. She pushed herself off of the bed, threw on a light robe, and circled around Balamb Garden.

"(How could they not know?)" She shuffled her feet across the smooth, glossy flooring. Then she recounted what was said at the ball.

Throughout most of the night that Ellone stayed at the ball, Squall was by her side with his girlfriend, Rinoa.

Squall's report was very informative and strait to the point—bland, and Rinoa wasn't afraid to say so.

"There was so much more to say. The fight was so scary and Squall was as brave as," she looked into his deep blue eyes, "a lion," she smiled.

"I don't want to talk about it. It may have been an adventure to you but…" he recalled the rage he felt through the battle, that damned annoying confusion all over again as he stared Griever in the face, and the terrible hopelessness that he may vanish at any given moment. He looked at Rinoa softly, lovingly.

Rinoa grabbed his arm and wrapped it around herself. "I guess Squall found it more scary!" she giggled.

"Whatever," a voice had said over his shoulder before he could. "What's this?" Quistis walked around to where Squall could see him. "You're not saying 'whatever' anymore?"

The corners of Squalls mouth were agitated (almost a smirk) as he smartly replied, "I guess not."

"Oh, my," Quistis pulled up a chair. "Is this a new Squall? Well, I better study up." She rested her elbows on the table and brought her hands under her chin. Everyone chuckled a bit and Quistis folded her hands into her lap. "So what were you all talking about?"

"The sorceress." Ellone spoke up.

"Ah, yes. That Ultimecia did put up a good fight." Quistis said rising out of her chair "but I didn't really fight too much with her. Squall took care of most of it." She smiled politely and was leaving.

"Well, I wasn't too interested in the fight, as I was in…" Ellone glanced at Rinoa who was bobbing Squall's arm on her shoulder. "who she was/what she was like."

Quistis frowned thoughtfully. "She had purple lines across her face and she had this wicked, harsh tone. These huge gray horns stuck out from either side of her head."

"Black wings." Rinoa added.

Quistis shook her head. "And…"

"A very sensuous red dress." Irvine drew a breath through clenched teeth as if to describe its tightness. Quistis rolled her eyes and shook her head. Irvine removed his hat and fanned himself mouthing the word 'hot' as he moseyed on by.

"(No one had ever mentioned any resemblance to the Sorceress Rinoa… Of course they wouldn't make note of that. She's their friend.)" Ellone kicked her feet forward sluggishly. She contemplated whether to tell anybody or not. It would mean a bad turn of events for Noa, but what if Ultimecia could be stopped? She thought about the many lives that had been lost as far back as the events in Esthar with Adel.

"Ultimecia's inside Adel. Exactly as she wanted."

She had sent Ultimecia further into the past to start the time compression, but at what cost? Ellone saw a few kids scramble into the training center as she approached. There were many horrific events that took place at the hands of Ultimecia, but who knows how the world would be without those events?

Tears formed in her eyes as she went over what to do. She couldn't let this fester in her mind. She should share this bourdon with someone else. Who should she tell? Squall? Laguna? …Rinoa?

She walked down the blue-lit dormitory isles. She grabbed the soft pillow off the floor and sought solace between the sheets. The bed was now comfortable and her mind was at ease.

She was resolved to tell somebody in the morning.

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What an ending! God, I'm good…

brushes shoulder, pops collar

Or am I cocky? Hmm… need reviews.


	4. The Bad Word

Alright, people. Ellone is about to confess and spread the bad word... What will be the result? Will she be able to go through with it and kill Squall's newfound spirit? I can't watch...

These creatures are owned by Squaresoft, and not myself.

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Squall woke up with a strange sensation. It was weird to wake up next to someone, but it was also soothing. "Rinoa…" He whispered to himself as he had done so many times before. She lay asleep on his bare chest so serene… he didn't want to move a muscle. He kissed the top of her head and closed his eyes again.

There was a rapping at the door. Squall ignored it at first but then it came again. "Damn…" he cursed as he tried to gently slide himself from the bed. The next knock came harder and he raced to the door to stop the assailant. He opened the door quickly and wide exposing his boxers as if to say 'look, you woke me up, dude' but then he saw it was his sister and quickly brought the door to a crack and hid his butt behind it. "Sis?" he asked dumbly.

"Squall… I need to talk to you about something."

"Uh," Squall rubbed his hand down his face, "right now?"

Ellone was about to barge in there right that second to drop her load on him, skinnies or not, but then she heard a soft voice.

"Squall? Is someone at the door?"

"No, no rush. We have plenty of time." Ellone hastily turned away.

"Elle?" he sounded worried. "But you're ok, right?"

Ellone smiled not a reassuring smile, but one that was good enough for Squall. "I'll see you in the library." She turned and headed straight for the library. At least she now knew that she couldn't speak in front of Rinoa.

He turned back into bed. "It was Ellone." He said as he moved over her, showering her with gentle kisses down her face and neck. Rinoa giggled and folded her arms around his shoulders.

Ellone sat in the library with out a book, solemnly running her fingers along the pattern of the oak writing table, especially encircling the portion that resembled a face. She threw a lazy glance to the overhead clock. It seemed much slower than usual. She returned her gaze to the table and ran her finger around the figure some more.

"Hello, little Elle," a familiar voice called. She turned and was greeted by that infamous wide smile, and she stood up to meet him.

"Hi, Uncle Cid…" Ellone put on a prize-winning smile, herself, but her voice wasn't in it.

The former headmaster frowned with concern. "What's wrong?" he asked as he set a hand on her shoulder.

"Nothing…" she said as her gaze retuned to the oak. She had been found out and she bent back into the chair. Her mind was racing. She had to evade Cid's concern.

Cid looked over the young figure he had known as a child. For the first time this girl had closed him off, appearing very artificial. He knew something was wrong and he was determined to find out what. "Elle," he paused easing himself down into a neighboring chair with a groan. "tell me what's wrong. You can tell me anything." He leaned in close to Ellone.

His voice was so sincere it nearly brought a tear to her eye that to keep this secret. Her breath stopped as the right words were on her lips. "…I was worried about Edea."

"Edea?" Cid leaned back into his chair. "Edea's just fine. She is walking around the garden with some of the kids. She's no longer a sorceress, you know that…" he cocked his head, "Why are you worried about her?"

"Well, we came so close to losing her…" Ellone's gaze remained fixated on the figure in the oak.

"Yes, we did…" he sighed in remembrance. "If we had lost her… I don't know what I would have done."

Ellone looked up, "But you lead the attack on her?"

"No, I cowardly handed that task over to Squall. And as far as SeeD goes, SeeD was Edea's idea. I wanted no part in it and would have had no part in it if Edea wasn't so persistent." He sighed, "She is the love of my life and without her… I'd be lost."

Ellone clasped her uncle's hand. He smiled heartily and patted her lovingly.

After a short pause he asked, "What are you doing here, anyways? You know Edea would love to see you."

"Oh, I'm waiting for my brother."

"He hasn't kept you long has he?"

She shook her head.

Cid rose with a grunt. "Alright then…" he stooped over and gave Ellone a peck on the cheek. "See you later, kiddo," he smiled brightly and she beamed back.

She watched him leave her company and heaved a sigh as she thought what a nice man he was and as a kind of release to the pressure she felt, that is, until he ran into Squall. Ellone's heart began to beat harder. After a brief exchange, Cid was heading out the door and Squall was heading towards Elle.

Squall pulled up a chair and slouched in it lending an elbow to each knee.

There was a pause before Ellone spoke. "Squall…" she looked into her younger brother's eyes. These well known 'curious puppy-dog eyes' were unusually bright and liquid. Was this the effect of Rinoa? His eyes were imbued with the innocence of first love.

"…Yes?"

"(…I don't want to lose you, Squall.)" She pulled away from the conversation. "…I don't know…"

Squall was puzzled, and looked at his hands folded between his legs. "(She doesn't know why she called me here? What's going on? Why is she acting all weird?)" He looked back up. "(Oh, that's why…) Sis," he began, "I don't blame you for leaving, and I hold no grudge. It was a long time ago. Everything turned out fine, after all. So, don't worry about it."

"Thank you, Squall," she said tearfully.

He saw his big sister reach her hand up to wipe away her tears, and he leaned in and grabbed her. Elle held him tight. She won't let the harmful truth come to her little brother. She didn't want to see him withdraw into himself again. Squall pulled away softly.

"You're my big sis," he smiled a smile that came from memories that were merely a whisper in his mind.

"I love you." She smiled through her tears.

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Ellone stood amongst the holographic buildings while Laguna sat on the edge of his desk. Laguna heard the whole story. He, too, knew this information would cause his son disarray.

"It's not like Rinoa _is_ Ultimecia yet. There's no trouble from her, so there's no need to take any action just yet." Laguna strolled around the desk, "I wonder, even, if we can stop her. I'll consult Odine on that—but in the meantime, we'll put this in a classified file and it will all be very hush-hush." Laguna returned to the front of the desk with a heavy sigh. "Oh, man, if Squall ever found out… it would kill him. I'm glad you came to me Elle," he patted her lovingly on the head.


	5. The Plan

So Laguna now knows, watch him in action.

Not owning FFVIII...

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Laguna dragged his right foot over the carpeted area. When arriving at his briefing office he turned to his aides saying, "Uh, wait out here—or better yet, you guys can just go on break." Then adding with a nervous chuckle, "You know how Odine likes to talk!" Then he proceeded through the double doors.

Kiros spun on his heal and faced Ward. "He would usually invite us in to listen to Odine for him."

Ward nodded, "(Laguna's acting very strange. There's something that he is hiding.)" he thought to himself.

This secretive behavior of Laguna was recognizable, not that it was often that the president kept anything from his trusted aides, but the few times that he had, never went without notice.

Ward and Kiros made their way down the halls.

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Once he had shut the door, he turned and leaned on it for balance as he pulled his leg up to his chest. "Damn leg…"

"(Damn foo.)" Odine turned, "You called?"

Laguna hobbled over to the wing chair and plopped down. It felt better without any weight on it. "Yes, I have top-secret information to discuss with you."

Odine's face divided into a million pieces as an evil smirk spread across his ancient features. "Top-secret," he let the words roll smoothly off his tongue.

"And I'm in need of your expertise."

"Zere iz nossing Odine cannot do!" he shuffled himself closer to President Lorie. "Go on, go on. Tell me what eet iz."

"The girl you examined before, Sorceress Rinoa, Squall's girlfriend with the blue dress and—"

"Yes?"

"it has come to my attention, just a few moments ago, actually—"

"Yes?"

"via my little Elle's junction abilities, she is so cute—!"

"Yes, yes!"

"that Rinoa _is_ the Sorceress Ultimecia."

Odine gasped loudly.

"Don't die on me, old man!" Laguna started to rise, but Odine motioned for him to stay seated.

"Zis iz incredible newz!" he paced wildly before Laguna. "Zat little gurl iz ze great sorceress? Does she know?"

"No."

"But just ssink of ze implications…!" he brought a hand over his head.

"Yes, that's what I came to you for. Is it possible that we could stop Ultimecia before she starts?"

"Eet iz a possibility. Let's try blowing her up right now!" Odine rushed to the doors, but Laguna was quicker and grabbed him by the collar.

"No, no, no, no, no. Not yet." Odine looked toward Laguna for explanation. "I want a sure-fire plan to be made for later use. Rinoa is… indispensable at the moment, and it's not like she's causing any trouble."

"Indizpensable…?"

Laguna released his collar. "Don't worry about it, just c'mon and let's get a plan together."

Odine turned his away from Laguna, "Eet takes time." He lowered his head and shadows were strewn all about his face. "I need ze time by my self."

Laguna pushed open the door. From within the doorway, he ordered, "Report to me as soon as you are done, and remember… this is a level blue operation—tell _no one_."

Odine's bun shook and the door clicked shut.

The scientist's eyes popped and he was off in a frenzy. "(If we in zis time have already seen Ultimecia, what makes anyone ssink that we can stop her from being? It would be interessing to put her in a room with an explosive device and see what happens, but oddly enough Laguna isn't moving on zis opportune moment…)"

He entered his password into a council, and the wall shifted and folded upward. He moved through the Palace Lab in search of something. Odine tossed aside the sheets that covered the inventions he had been meaning to get back to. Dust swirled in the low-ceilinged room, choking the little light there was, but still, Odine continued his search.

"(Eet iz obvious zat action vill never take place. Ze only mystery iz zat of how Sorceress Rinoa becomes Sorceress Ultimecia. Zere iz nossing anyone can do, or quite possibly nossing anyone will do… I don't know, but—)" Odine cast aside the final sheet, finding what he had been looking for. "Ah!" he said satisfied as he looked at his familiar handy work. "'Junction Machine Ellone!'" He touched the silvery cylinders, and spoke in a low tone, "Zere iz much for us to get done."

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Oh, no. Whatcha doin' there Odine? This can't be good...


	6. Presidency

It took a long time for me to figure out what I wanted to do in this chaptyr, but I think I've finally got an idea. So without further adue, chaptyr 6.

In this chaptyr we will see the ending of that SeeD contract that was forged so long ago. It's all very political.

Still not owning…

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Seifer was the rightful president of Galbadia, but his part as a sorceress' knight was over and he only wanted to be a normal teenager anymore. With the help of Squall's negotiating power, he was able to give up his seat in exchange for amnesty. The rule of Galbadia was now under Squalls belt along with headmaster of Balamb Garden. He had lobbied for the position, not because he wanted to be their president, but because he wanted to be the one to appoint the 'right' person for the job.

After leaving his gathering with Ellone, he headed to the conference to discuss the future leadership of Galbadia. He wasted no time. He didn't want the massive country to lose its structure to anarchy. He rode the elevator to Cid's chambers where there was already a small assembly. He made his way past the familiar faces to speak at the podium.

Upon arrival, Xu whispered in his ear, "Are you sure you can make a decision so quickly?"

Squall lackadaisically ascended his a hand as if to say 'I've got this.' He grabbed the mic and adjusted it slightly. He looked around the room. Rinoa's father sat in, exchanging glares across the room with Zone and Watts. Cid, smiling broadly, was holding hands with Edea. One of Master NORG's advisors was in attendance. Irvine and Selphie were playing with each other's hair. Quistis and Zell sat together. The White SeeD Leader sat with his cover in his lap. Next to him, both Mayor Dobe and Flow were present. And a few random faces…

There was a slight pause before he began, "Everyone, this conference has been assembled to sanction a new president to the powerful country, Galbadia. I know it seems something sudden, but the choice for the leadership is an obvious one." He frowned, finding it strange that he was listing back and forth like the former headmaster.

Both Quistis and Zell felt his gaze. Zell's feet were hopping up and down at about a million miles per hour as he waited for the big decision. Quistis held her breath. Zell looked over to her, and she placed a gentle hand on his.

He stood erect and continued, "This person will control one of the top military forces in the world. It is imperative that this person will guide such a country with restraint…"

Zell's features sagged.

"diplomacy, and compassion…"

Quistis sighed.

"for the people in the world in which we share. That being kept in mind, I chose someone who had seen the world, and who have seen the power and destruction of war firsthand. Someone who all the leaders and representatives assembled here today have met and would approve of."

A slender figure stopped at the door. It was Rinoa, arriving just in time to hear the announcement. She leaned on the doorpost.

"The person I have selected to be the life-long president of Galbadia is Zell Dincht."

Zell felt like jumping through the roof, but he managed to control himself; he didn't want to embarrass Squall or hurt Quistis. Quistis looked over at Zell and was impressed with his self-restraint. Rinoa clapped silently and covered her mouth in her joy.

"Zell, like no other, has shown a remarkable willingness to learn, he has the capability to take charge, and the fire it takes to withstand such a tasking job. Zell," Squall backed up from the podium, "if you would…"

The applause sounded as Zell stood up from within the small gathering and made his way to the front of the room. Everyone's eyes were anew as they followed the young man. Zell reached the podium and gripped it tightly. He leaned in and spoke, "I, uh… Thank you, Squall." They nodded at each other. "This is kind of unexpected, and I don't have a speech prepared or anything, but I just wanna assure you of what Squall said. I'll be a good leader. I've seen the world and its people. I will strive for the tranquility that I've seen in Fisherman's Horizon, and I'll never command the destruction that came to Trabia," he bit his lip.

Irvine pulled Selphie close into him.

"So… Thank you, Squall, and… I love you Ma!" Zell smiled and the applause began again. Squall spit into his gloved hand and reached it out to Zell whose eyes were wide with elation. He spit in his hand and slapped in a firm handshake and the crowd gave a standing ovation. Rinoa couldn't see over the crowd, so she edged toward the front.

"Congratulations, Zell." Xu shouted over the applause. "Now you'll have to prepare a speech for all of Galbadia to hear."

"Woa…" Zell's head spun a bit.

"You'll manage." Xu said, adding, "You know, I'm a pretty good writer…" she smiled.

Everyone got up and mingled with one another, enjoying the various beverages provided. Zell got carried away by the range of people who all wanted something of him.

Squall stood and watched Zell for a moment before Quistis walked up. "Zell is going to make a fine president. He's a good choice, Squall."

Squall nodded.

"He was the '_obvious _choice?'" Quistis cast out her line.

"Hi, Squall." Familiar hands reached across Squall's waist from behind and he turned and held her.

"Rinoa…" He kissed the top of her head, then he turned back to Quistis who had bowed her head in embarrassment. "Quistis," he began to answer her question, but

"Rinoa," a familiar, gruff voice called. Both she and Squall turned.

"(It's…) Caraway." Squall said.

"I wasn't talking to you, I was talking to my daughter, and I would like to speak with her alone."

"Squall is just as a part of me as anything else." Rinoa jeered. "Anything you have to say, you can say in front of him."

Zone and Watts flew out of nowhere and stood behind Rinoa with a, "Yeah!"

Squall turned to them fierce look and they disappeared into the crowd without a word. Then he turned to Rinoa. "Rinoa…" he called for her to be gentle. "Look… I just got through establishing some peace in the world, surely you two can resolve your differences. Rinoa, he's your father… that's something not to be taken for granted. Caraway, I am a part of your daughter's life and I will not abandon her at anyone's command."

Caraway was taken aback. "I see…" He cleared his throat. "(Rinoa, I wanted you to come home, but you probably want to stay with this boy… He seems like he's on the level, so I'll allow you to stay.) Take care, daughter. You know where home is." He turned and left without a fuss.

Rinoa was quite surprised. "I think that means he likes you…"

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Zell went to Balamb and scooped up his 'Ma.' Together they traveled first class in the head of the Ragnarok to Dealing City, Ma Dincht hugging and squeezing her baby boy all the way.

On arrival, Squall introduced Zell as their president and an unrecognizable Zell rose to meet his duty. His hair was slicked back and he wore a 3-piece suit. There was an aura of calmness about him as he spoke poetically and passionately about the future of Galbadia. He promised them he would promote peace and prosperity. He promised to convene with Esthar to improve the country with technology and ideas. He promised that Galbadia had seen the last of pain and suffering and the crowd went wild.

Under President Dincht there was a beautiful calmness. The Galbadian army was diminished… the D-District, shutdown… Timber and Dollet were left alone. Many of the soldiers were out of work. Sure, some had found jobs rebuilding Trabia Garden or in reconstructing Galbadia, but many were left without a cause. For just about a decade there was a beautiful calmness, but there's always someone left unsatisfied…

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Oo, dissatisfication… But I will not be leaping that many years into the future in the next chaptyr. …I think…


	7. Decent Proposal

Ok, so, like, in this chaptyr you will see Squall and Rinoa get married. Even if you don't like the couple, it's worth reading; no squishy, mushy stuff. Enjoy!

I don't own these characters…

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The lion chased after its tail as Rinoa twirled the ring on her necklace. She sat on the edge of the bed with her chin in her chest contemplating about the use of Griever in that final battle. "(How did she get Griever…? Even know of the GF?)" She dropped the ring with a jangle. "(No one knows more about it than Squall, but if I asked him anything, he would just tell me not to worry about it.)" She fell back onto the bed.

A door clicked shut.

"You're late."

"I don't have to be on time;" Squall paused, "no contract, remember?" he smiled.

She sat up and looked at him. "Oh, no…" she played along, "I think I liked you better under a contract. Oh well, I'll just have to put a spell on you…" She waved her hands dramatically. "Come boy," she wiggled her little finger.

Squall pushed himself off of the door and stalked over to her.

"Jacket," she said and flung her arm.

Squall threw his jacket across the room and moved on top of her. The lovers kissed passionately until Squall pulled away.

"Hellooo… spell?"

Squall felt around in his pants pockets and Rinoa bent her head back in her impatience. Squall hopped over to his jacket and became still. He walked over to Rinoa and knelt before her. "Rinoa," he called. She brought her head back around and looked into Squall's eyes, bright and liquid. In his hands she discovered a dark, velvety box and she gasped.

Before he could open the box or even pop the question, she leaned in and grabbed Squall tightly. "Yes!" she cried.

Squall may have proposed that night, but his work crushed everything in his personal life. There were many things to be done now that the sorceresses had wreaked their havoc. The Garden was traveling northeast from Dollet. Squall took advantage of their being far away from anywhere (Rinoa would never wed in a Garden), and got a lot of work done.

He was able to sell many SeeDs to Esthar who were still overrun with monsters. In fact, Headmaster Squall was the only one who could transport SeeDs to Esthar (using the Ragnarok).

Rinoa pouted and asked why they couldn't use the Ragnarok to go to Winhill to get married, but Squall explained that Balamb Garden was dangerously undermanned and they were to pick up more SeeDs as they passed Trabia. This excuse worked well, but Rinoa could always find something to get into...

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Laguna had just gotten a break and fell into his cushy, leather chair. "Ahh..." he sighed as the chair molded to his body. Somehow he was reminded of the days when he slaved under Odine...

Just when he was reaching his two hands behind his head, his phone rang. He pressed the button unconsciously. "(Damn it! Why did I do that!)"

Secretary: "Sir, someone has stopped by that I think you would like to hear from."

He slumped forward and put his chin on the desk. "Mmn..." He really didn't want to talk, but, "...Who is it?" his head bobbed as he spoke.

Secretary: "It is a 'Rinoa.'"

"Oh," he sat up, "go ahead. Bring her in."

Secretary: "Yes, sir."

Laguna straightened out his desk as he pondered why she could have come. Soon enough the secretary walked in and introduced, "Sorceress Rinoa."

Rinoa started at the title.

Laguna stood. "There is no need for introductions... leave us," Laguna said angrily. The secretary left and the door clicked shut. He sat shaking his head. "Sorry about that..."

"Uh," Rinoa began walking towards Laguna, "it's ok, President Loire. I guess that is who I am now..."

"No need for formalities, Rinoa. I'm just Laguna," he smiled heartily.

"Ok," she smiled back.

"My, you've come a long way. Last I heard Balamb Garden was heading from Dollet on a course to Trabia."

"Well, when you ordered some SeeDs, I traveled with them on the Ragnarok."

"I ordered SeeDs?" he frowned. "Oh, yeah!" he laughed at himself. "Aw, man... I'm tellin' ya, this is some hard work. I hardly remember anything anymore. I guess that's how the time gets lost."

"I think Squall's become the same way..."

"Squall..." a pain resounded in his voice. "What's he up to?"

"Oh, all kinds of things. He's been trying hard to find some work for SeeD, but it's been really tough though, so now he's going to change the whole concept of SeeD." Rinoa sighed, "Soon enough I won't be seeing him at all... Talk about not seeing the bride before the wedding!" she joked.

"Wedding?"

"Oh, oh yeah... That's what I came to tell you. We're getting married soon."

Laguna pushed back into his chair. "(My boy...)"

"I wanted to invite you... I knew he wouldn't, but I didn't want you to miss out... or Squall."

"Of course I'll come," he said, adding firmly, "I'll be there whatever it takes." He looked down at his desk. "...Or maybe I shouldn't. We both know he wouldn't want me there..."

Rinoa leaned across the desk to draw his attention. "Of course he wants you there; he needs you."

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Squall struggled with his bow as a mixed array of feelings surfaced. "I don't need you," he said and turned away from his father.

Laguna was hurt. Irvine and Nida twinged in their discomfort as they listened to the two argue back and forth.

"I haven't had a father all my life, having one now wouldn't serve any purpose."

He continued to wrestle with his bow. Irvine got up and intervened before it became a death match. "Hold still," he asked calmly as he worked the bow.

Now that Squall was still, Laguna felt that he might be able to talk to him. "Squall, I know that... I haven't been much of a father to you..."

Squall scoffed.

"but... I'm here for you now."

"Yeah? For how long?"

"No one can predict the future..." he unleashed the secret words that Rinoa had given to him.

He cocked his head to the side and put a hand on his hip. "(I'm gonna kill Rinoa.)" But at the same time, he knew the wisdom in these words.

Irvine didn't think he was getting the message and put in his two cents, "Squall, your dad is _here_, so, like, just be happy that you have a dad at all." Irvine completed the tie.

Squall took a deep breath in and let out, "If you guys would..." He gestured to the door. Nida happily hopped up and was out the door. Irvine lagged behind, but Squall's gentle nod sent him on his way. "You are my father. There's no denying that..." he turned to face Laguna. "but up until this point, I haven't had a dad and I don't know what to do with one. I'm all grown up, Laguna. You've shown up just in time for my wedding-- what do you want from me?"

Laguna simply replied, "I just want to be included in your life."

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"Why did you let _that man_ in here!" Rinoa asked watching the 'stranger' behind her through the mirror. Quistis and Selphie looked up from their work on the great white dress.

"He said he was your father." Arari, Selphie's best friend, replied looking over the older uniformed gentleman.

"Ohhh, no!" Selphie shook her arms down to the side. She sensed trouble brewing.

"What?" asked Arari.

Quistis answered, "It certainly is Rinoa's father, but-- "

"Who invited _you_?" Rinoa snapped.

"Squall."

Rinoa cocked her head to the side and put both wrists on her hips. "(I'm gonna kill him.)"

"Time to go," Quistis whispered among the bride's mates. "We'll leave you two to talk," she said just before she clicked the door shut.

"No, wait!" Rinoa called after her. She moved towards the door forgetting that she was on a stool. She stumbled off the stool, stepped on the front of her dress, and the next thing she knew she was falling. Caraway dove and caught her just in time. "Thank you," was her immediate, humbled response. "Oh, no...!" she complained. The dress had torn at the waistline and was ripped and tattered at the bottom.

Caraway made an attempt to be sensitive. He knelt down and played with the material, replying. "Oh, it's not that bad, Noa. I'm sure the girls will have that fixed up in no time."

She was surprised that he was being so nice, or at least trying, but this only awakened her defensive side. "What do you care?"

Caraway rose to his feet. "I do care."

"Hmph." Rinoa trudged over to a chair and plopped down with a poof. She squished the air out of her dress.

Her father walked over to her. "Do you know that you are my favorite daughter?" he smiled. "I've loved you since the day you were born, and everyday after that." He attempted to brush back her hair, but she pulled away. "Why do we always have to fight?"

"Why!" she turned with a scowl, and if looks could kill... "You are so overbearing! Everything in my life has to have your stamp of approval to be valid! Nothing's good enough for you. You probably came just to tell me that Squall's not a good choice."

"Well, I do wonder..." Caraway sauntered around. "If you remember, this is the one that drug you through more danger than any SeeD would endure... Let's review." He began to pace and calmly count off the events on his fingers, "You nearly got eaten by Iguanons, you were jailed in the D-District, he took you to a Garden that was targeted by missiles"

"Squall was always by my side!" Rinoa interrupted, holding her head as if to keep her image of Squall intact.

"he's responsible for your becoming a sorceress, and, _finally_, he had you pitted in the center of that 'Compression Plan.'" He paused taking a look at his daughter. "Good choice? He's worse than your hooligan friends."

"Those are my friends, not yours, thank God, and I don't need your approval to keep them or to marry Squall." She turned and looked her father straight in the eye. "And since all you are is a giant 'disapproval' stamp, you can just leave," she said forcefully.

Usually Rinoa would be one to succumb easily to Caraway's authority. It seemed now that she had found a new vigor. "What has gotten into you...?" he whispered to himself.

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"Ohhh, I wish I had known that before," Arari said as she touched her nose thoughtfully to her knees.

Quistis kept her gaze on the double doors in which the discord was taking place. Quistis looked down at the 2 sitting on the floor, both with their knees clasped. "Strange thing is Squall invited him..."

Just then Caraway emerged out of one of the doors. Facing the inside he was whispering, "I just want to make sure that my only daughter is okay." The door clicked shut without another word. The unhappy father touched the door gently and his gaze dropped to the floor. Selphie and Arari pushed themselves up the wall. The general looked down the long, barren hallway and replied to the bride's maids, "Her dress is torn... she'll be needing some help." As soon as he turned around the corner, the maids skipped to the attention of the bride.

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Laguna adjusted the flower in Squall's blazer as the ceremony was about to begin. This was a big event for a place like Winhill, and so the whole town was invited to the great mansion, still, the wedding was intimate.

From the outside, Irvine heard the orchestra begin to play. He then scooped up Selphie and escorted her inside. Irvine seemed off his cool and rather skittish as he made his way with Selphie down the aisle. Selphie had been asking him questions about their own wedding... Upon reaching the priest they separated, Irvy standing next to Squall and Selphie next to where Rinoa would be. Irvine wiped the sweat of his brow.

Then came Quistis arm in arm with Nida. When they reached their places, all eyes looked to the double doors above the staircase. Out emerged Rinoa. Down the stairs she went with her long tail dribbling behind. She grabbed her dress as her long legs reached for the next step and gave it a little swirl. She and Squall smiled broadly at each other. The whole front of her dress was gone, revealing her starkly contrasting, black shorts and her bare legs. It was much like a wedding version of the dress she always wore.

Soon enough the married couple were riding a chocobo across town to the local hotel.

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OK, well there you have it. I hope that all of you who are not reviewing are enjoying this. Well, if you've read this far... Hey, I still like to get reviews! Happy reading to you all.

The next chaptyr will likely be more on track and return to the RinoaUltimecia theory, but if it doesn't, oh well; Altered Soul is also a continuation of the Final Fantasy VIII story.


	8. R&R

To make up for that extraordinarily long chaptyr, I have made this one shorter, but not too short. Enjoy!

$, I still don't own these characters! Soon, my pretties. Soon.

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Rays of sunshine ran across Rinoa's body, awakening her. She smiled to herself and kept her eyes closed. She stretched a bit then rolled over and reached for Squall. Vacancy. Like so many other mornings Squall was already gone...

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Squall lent one knee to the soft ground and touched the engraved letters tenderly. The tireless breeze flowed gently over the grassy hillside. Laguna knelt next to Squall in the same fashion.

The two men were silent for some time until Laguna spoke up. "This is the very spot that I proposed to her at... I had just gotten back to Winhill with little Elle, and I only had a few days before I had to go. I promised myself that I would muster my courage and ask her." He looked around and noted the grassy hills with reverence. He chuckled, "Of course, I procrastinated till the end." He looked at the stone. "...That was the last time I saw her... I wish you could have known her, Squall. She was something else."

"In a way I have met her, thanks to Ellone." Squall stood up. "I could feel the love that you felt for her."

"The love that I _feel_ for her." Laguna kissed the stone and rose to his feet to face Squall. "Squall... love is everlasting. It doesn't just let go of you when people pass on. It stays with you. That's why it hurts. Some are so lost without the ones they love that... they would end their lives or just slowly wither. They try to forget the ones that they've loved and that's what eats them up inside." Laguna began to walk in Winhill's direction, Squall following. "I've chosen not to forget and her memory is always a comfort."

There was a long pause. Laguna wrapped his arm around Squall and gave it a vigorous shake replying, "I've seen the way you look at Rinoa... there's something about her that just makes your face light up."

"...Yeah," he smiled as a memory of her face entered his mind. "It's so strange. I didn't even like her at first. She was always so laid-back and I was always so serious. I tried to push her away, but she made it clear that she wasn't going anywhere," he paused. "She was so genuine and it was just relaxing to be around her..."

Laguna smiled. "You two make a handsome couple."

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Rinoa came down the stairs to a small gathering. "Ey, the bride." Someone said from the barstool and brought his glass up.

"Hey," the crowd said and raised their drinks. Rinoa feigned a smile.

Selphie and Arari rushed up to her. "Booyaka!" they exclaimed in unison. "Hey, where's Squall?" Selphie asked.

"Tired him out, did you?" Arari teased and they both giggled amongst each other.

Rinoa blushed. Now she didn't even want to ask them to help her find him. She looked around asking, "What's all this?"

"It's a local thing." Selphie said.

"Celebrations last for 24 hours around here," Arari added, "so people are starting their drinking early."

"Both bars are pretty full. Many of them are from the Garden."

Rinoa frowned thoughtfully. "Weird. Is Quistis here?"

"No, she's back on the Garden, but if you wanna see her, you'll have to wait; the Garden is stopping by Timber and Dollet to drop off some of Trabia's finest technicians!" Selphie proudly replied.

"Oh..."

Selphie cocked her head. "Why so glum?"

"Squall was gone when I got up. I wasn't going to tell you because..."

"Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you. I was just joking."

"It's okay," she smiled.

"We'll help you find him," Arari chirped.

"Right on!" Selphie chimed and they all smiled and left out the door.

Rinoa gasped and shoved the others back inside. Before they could ask what was going on, Rinoa poked her head out the crack of the door whispering, "Would you look at that..."

"What, what?" the two asked and then there were then 3 heads peering out the crack of the door. Together they watched Laguna and Squall walk towards them having a lively chat. Rinoa pulled the door shut and bounced around unable to contain her joy. Selphie smiled heartily. "What? Who are they?" Arari asked.

"Weren't you paying attention at all?" Selphie scolded.

"That's Squall and his father, Laguna. They had some differences, but I'm so happy to see their getting along." Rinoa chirped.

"Hurry, let's sit at a table before they come in," Selphie suggested and they all bolted to the nearest table and grabbed a seat.

"Act natural."

The door opened and the men came in. The 3 young women beamed brightly at them, all seeming very suspicious. Laguna and Squall exchanged glances and all 3 girls waved ecstatically. Rinoa stood up as Squall approached.

"The groom!" someone shouted from the bar.

Everyone raised their glasses with a, "Hey." Squall grabbed his bride and gave a passionate kiss on the lips. Everyone began to hoot and howl and he leaned deeper into the kiss.

When he pulled back Rinoa said the only thing that she could, "Woa." She smiled and played with the fur on his collar. "What was all that for?"

"Everything."

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That's right, guys, you owe _everything _to your women!

Hmm, I'm sensing this story needs a little something. A little upheaval. A little blood... No more mushy-squishy. In the next chaptyr, you will find out who is unhappy with President Dincht and _someone_ (not saying who) just might get killed...


	9. Earth is No Everlasting Paradise

In this chaptyr, blood will be spilled. Hyne help them all...

I don't own any of these characters! Oh, wait, yes I do! Kheheheh. I own Gartier. Yay!

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President Dincht proved to be a man of the people. Unlike his predecessors, Dincht had a genuine following among the Galbadians. They were united behind him. They trusted him. Everything seemed easy to the young president though some of the council meetings would get rough. He found the routine meetings to be an unproductive waste of time, but they were mandatory so he had to go, but he did manage to get the meetings down to once a month.

On each side of the long, glossy table, a dozen council members were in attendance all quietly chatting as they waited for the president to arrive. They spoke badly of President Dincht among themselves calling him young and naive. All of them worked together to try and teach the boy that the army was the heart of Galbadia. Without it, they explained, the people would run wild in the streets and form factions to overthrow the government, other nations will knock them around, and the economy will suffer greatly due to the lack of imports coming in from the once conquered territories. Except that the economy slowed down a notch, none of this came true, giving Zell even more reason to ignore the council.

The president entered the room and all was quieted. The council rose to their feet respectfully as he made his way across the room to his seat. A few of them had stayed seated.

Zell reached the front, smiling at those seated. "Starting this meeting off right, are we?" He sat at the head of the table and all who were standing followed suit. "Now are you going to stand?" he asked them, generating no response from the men who blankly stared forward. "Commence." With that word the meeting was started.

Everything had started out quietly and polite, but, as usual, it escalated into a distempered free-for-all. General Gartier meshed his black leather gloves together as he stared off into space. He had promised himself not to participate. "(There's no use in it.)" he told himself, but as he listened, he wanted more and more to yell out the solutions that he had bellowed for so many years. He rubbed his hands with more force as he listened to the boy tell them how it was going to be. Each time he spoke, the pressure mounted on Gartier's shoulders until, finally, he couldn't take it...

Gartier slammed his fists on the table and pushed himself up. His violence shut everyone up and all eyes were on him. "All these problems would be solved if you would just give the army back its strength! You've crippled us!" Dincht started to respond to his harsh words, but the general's voice outmatched his own. "You've given back the lands we worked hard to appropriate and now we don't have enough farmland! Resources are so hard to come by, it's no wonder are economy is down! And we've only just seen the tip of the iceberg on that one. You've shriveled the army and now our country is suffering, don't you see that!" Zell sat down and let him continue his same old song. "You negotiate with Esthar to get _plastic_, in the meantime we don't have the means to defend ourselves! Shouldn't you get new weapons technology!"

The room seemed extra quiet in the absence of his voice. Zell calmly answered, "Now is that a rhetorical question, or would you like me to answer again?"

"As many times as I have to ask, I want you to answer. Maybe you'll finally hear yourself and know how dumb you sound," Gartier said and plopped into his seat.

Zell drew in a long breath wishing he were somewhere else.

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Laguna stretched out his muscles and rotated his chair. He looked over the great city of Esthar. What a beautiful city. He frowned and wondered why he felt out of place. "(Oh yeah, I'm usually checking up on Adel right about this time of year...)" He looked up at the sky and spun his chair back around.

"Miss going out there?" Kiros asked.

"Yeah. It was kinda fun just to go out there. A break from the ordinary, you know?" Laguna sighed at the mountain of paperwork on the desk and went on another spin. "Hey, you know who I haven't seen in a while?"

"(Laguna...)"

"No, Ward, I'm not trying to get out of work, seriously." he answered Ward's look. "(Not that I wouldn't mind to. Heh heh...) Odine."

"Now that I think of it, I haven't seen him for a long time either," Kiros replied and Ward nodded in agreement.

"See?"

"I'm gonna go look for him." Laguna happily left his work desk and bolted out of the door.

"...Or he could have just called..." Kiros exchanged glances with Ward who was laughing. Kiros picked up the phone.

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"Squall...?" Rinoa began. "There's something I've been wanting to ask you for some time and it's just been driving me crazy lately..."

"What is it?"

She shifted uneasily in her chair. "...Griever...?"

Squall sighed within himself. He had thought about it for many years, but still was unable to figure it out. Talking about it now certainly wasn't going to help.

"How did you come to learn of it?"

"(She's been holding on to this question for a long time...)" he thought and figured he should answer that it may put her mind at ease. Squall shook his head and responded, "I made it up myself. I made up the name and everything."

Rinoa was puzzled. "Are you sure?"

"I've already tried to figure this thing out. I thought maybe I was influenced by something else, but I _remember_ making Griever and designing the ring myself." He looked at the rings around her neck. "Griever was the image of who I wanted to be."

"A lion..." she whispered.

"Yeah."

"Did you... make the ring yourself?"

"Why are you asking about the ring?"

"I'm pretty sure that I saw Ultimecia use a ring."

"I don't think so..." Squall wondered where this was going.

"Where did you get it made at?"

"Rinoa," he sighed. He didn't mean to feed her imagination. "why are you so worried about this? It was just a trick, that's all. She wanted to confuse me so she conjured up the image that I had of myself and turned it against me. It's that simple." He scooted his chair around the small table and held Rinoa's face. "Ultimecia is gone. You don't have to worry about it anymore."

"But if it is the ring-- this ring..."

Squall's attention went elsewhere. Rinoa turned and saw tall Irvine walking along side a squat, little fellow. Irvine waved and scooped up the toddler and made him wave. "Hey, little man, there's your mommy and daddy. Go on." He set him on the floor and patted his butt. The little one then ran across the way and jumped into his mother's arms.

"Ooooh," Rinoa sang as she did a spin-around. "We missed you, yes we did!" she chirped. She sat in her seat and he was bombarded by two juicy kisses. Squall smiled and brushed back his soft, brown hair.

"Man, that little guy is something else. He is my ultimate partner in crime, aren't you?" Irvine tipped his hat and the little fellow giggled.

"Kaytsu is not your personal chick-magnet," Rinoa scolded.

"Actually, we just went down to the Quad and played with a guitar. The ladies... came after." He shrugged, "What can I say? He's goood." Rinoa shook her head. "Oh, and I just saw Quistis on the way up here. They, uh, need to discuss some things with you in the office." He saw a frown make its way onto Rinoa's face. "But it'll only take a little bit."

Squall rose and, after a little kiss, walked off with Irvine. He could feel her eyes boring holes through him as he walked out of the cafeteria. She didn't like the way he was always gone. She also didn't care to raise Kaytsu in a military environment. Sooner or later something was going to give.

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Laguna didn't get it. He scratched his head in his confusion. "(Where could he have gone? I can't find him anywhere, but at least I know he's in the city. Wait... that's not helpful...)" He rode back up to the Palace using the sitster. When he got off he stopped at the first door. "(I left him here...)" He pushed the door open and walked inside.

He snooped around the room. "Little scary-man...? You in here?" He came across a panel he had never seen before. "What's this?" Laguna punched in the presidential code.

Access Denied.

"Denied!" he looked at the screen in bewilderment. "Let's see if you deny this..." He punched in Odine's 'secret' code and the wall shifted and folded upward. Laguna was stunned to find a part of the Palace that he didn't know about. He ducked down to look into the dark abyss. Little rectangles of light went on as far as the eye could see.

Laguna hunched his way into the little room. The door quietly closed behind him. He squatted and looked over the first machine. Somebody had uncovered it... Odine was likely here, Laguna decided.

Laguna made his way walking blindly through the low-ceilinged maze until he heard the sounds of someone working: tools falling to the ground, some kind of blowtorch, and various grunts.

Finally he made came across a little man wearing a welder's mask. "Odine. I've been looking all over for you. What is this place and what are you—," he stopped suddenly. He recognized the headgear that the good doctor was working on. "Junction Machine Ellone..."

Odine dropped the welder's mask revealing his twisted, little face. "Sure iz," A hand went around his backside. "you cheeky monkey!" Odine fired a laser gun into Laguna's chest.

Laguna brought a hand up and turned away from his murderer. His head spun as his body was wracked with pain. An image of Raine came to mind and he found the strength he needed not to cry out. He fell to his knees and finally to the floor. Dead.

Odine looked at the laser gun he held out in front of him with dismay. Then he scooped up his beloved machine and fled the lab.

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:'( Damn you, Odine. I'll kill you! So how many of you saw that coming? Write to me, I love teh reviews.

In the next chaptyr, I'll use my author-itarian powers to crush Odine... Or perhaps his role isn't finished in all of this. I don't know. But I've gotta take a break...


	10. The Set Up

Alrighty then, in this chaptyr all kinds of interesting stuff is going to happen, like I'll send a brigade after Odine's punk ass. Let's read.

I do not own any of the characters featured in this saga, save for General Gartier and Kaytsu. That's right, any children they have are mine! Hmwhahahah!

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The elevator whirred its way down from the bridge. Squall and Quistis stepped off together and walked over to the seated area. "Quistis," he began, "I need to ask you something about the Ultimecia fight. I know it was a long time ago, but try to remember." Quistis nodded. "...When Ultimecia called on Griever, did you see her use a ring of some sort?"

"A ring..." she repeated. "Yes, I do believe I saw her throw a ring down just before Griever showed up."

"You did...?" Squall was mortified. "(Then it is that ring. And if Rinoa has it... something is going to happen to Rinoa...)"

"What's wrong?" she asked worried.

"Nothing..."

Quistis shook her head. "Nothing? Squall, what is it?"

"Squall!" came a shout from the bridge issued by Xu. He and Quistis exchanged glances and quickly hopped onto the elevator. Quistis stationed herself at her usual spot. "It's Laguna..."

Squall shook his head knowing what news she bore. "No..." he sighed to himself.

Xu dutifully continued, "He's been assassinated."

Squall turned his back toward his officers. "Who?"

"They believe it was Dr. Odine. They found his body in a lab of sorts with a hole burned through his chest. Kiros is now the head of Esthar and is working desperately to find the murderer. There are no traces of Dr. Odine as of--"

Squall rode the lift back down.

"Squall..." Quistis whispered in her concern.

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Squall was in his quarters. He stood with his arms folded, his shoulder and head rested on the window as he contemplated life and existence. For a few moments he felt glad that he had met his father while he could, but he was left with that same bitter aftertaste: sadness and hopelessness. He could never get back his father... He tapped his head on the pane.

Just then the door opened. It was Rinoa. She was carrying Kaytsu. Squall continued to stare out the window without a word. She set Kaytsu in the other room and tipped over a bucket of blocks for him to play with. Rinoa then came in and stood right in front of Squall. She spoke softly, "I heard."

"(How could she have heard about it so fast? Oh, of course... Quistis.)"

She grabbed onto one of his arms, catching his attention. "I'm so sorry..."

"You killed him?"

She almost wanted to roll her eyes, but she just kept her peaceful manner. "I'm sorry that you lost him, Squall. You guys had so much catching up to do and..."

"It's a good thing we didn't get too close, or I'd feel much more miserable."

"Squall, when you get closer, the memories you've shared with that person will last you a lifetime and you never lose sight of them... You two have had some good times. Never forget them and you will always have your father."

Squall agreed for the most part, but felt that the memories more reminded him that Laguna wasn't around than provided him peace of mind.

Rinoa's soft smile faded. "But little Kaytsu... I'm afraid he might lose his father all too soon. Squall," she pleaded, "let's leave this place before something terrible happens."

"Rinoa, here is where we are safest."

"Do you love your son?"

"What?" he asked confused.

"Do you love your son?"

"Of course I do..."

"Then let your position as headmaster go."

Squall was infuriated. "You think I care more about being headmaster than my own son!"

Rinoa spoke in an even lower tone to try and bring Squall's voice down. "All I know is that our son has been traveling on a military base for 3 years despite my wishes that he not be in the line of fire."

"Everything was peaceful."

"Yes, everything _was_ peaceful for many years, and that's why I tolerated my son being carted around on this Garden. But now, the president of Esthar has been assassinated--"

"By Odine..."

"They don't _know_ that! Squall, please... I'm taking Kaytsu out of here. Come with us. Kaytsu still has a father. Don't deny him that..."

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Gartier crunched his leather gloves together as he hunched over them to read a memo. The low lamp was focused on the memo, but the general's mind was elsewhere. "(So, President Dincht... you think you can just lay down the army and have everything work according to plan? 155 thousand people still out of work with nowhere to go, or making minimum wage, despising you as I do. You've made quite a number of enemies...)" The general picked up a fountain pen, writing 155,000 in bold, black ink. He encircled it over and over again. "(A standing army of 7 thousand, how pathetic... The only real protection you have is befriending Esthar.)" He stabbed the paper with the pen and it bled through the pages of the memo entirely. He watched it consume the '155,000.' He swiveled his chair away from the mess and looked through the chinks of the blinds into the night. "I will repair this country's might..."

"General Gartier, sir. I have some important news."

"Then fax it to me..." he growled.

"I think you would like to hear this in person, sir."

Gartier turned around to face the young soldier. "Well, don't stand in the doorway like an idiot. Come in and tell me about this news that is so important." The general liked to receive reports at arms length, so if they bothered him for nothing, he would make sure they were sorry.

The private saw the fountain pen stuck through a thick report of some kind and swallowed hard. "Uh... the President of Esthar, Laguna Loire, has been murdered, sir. His body was--"

A light danced in Gartier's eyes. "Do they know who did it?"

"It is suspected that a Dr. Odine is committed the heinous act, it was one of his inventio--"

"Have they found him?"

"They are currently on the look out, but Odine is still at large."

"Good, good." The private started at the general's sentiments and he corrected himself, "...It's a good report. Now get out of here. Oh, and, get someone to clean this mess, would you?"

"Sir! Yessir!"

General Gartier stood up and looked out over the city. "(So comes my opportunity at last! Esthar is distracted and so, fate smiles upon Galbadia!)" His features were marked with elation as he turned and rushed out of the room. He passed the maid on the way out and she hardly recognized him.

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Watts' sat on the edge of his chair to stare into the TV as if 2 feet was a great divide. He was so intrigued by the device that he spent most of his time gazing into it. It informed him of his previous home, Timber, while he traveled on the SeeD ship. Zone had also gained an interest in the little machine...

Zone walked into the 'TV cabin' and pulled back Watts' seat a painful 5 feet. "This is the last time I get to watch it before we go home, so..."

Zone reached for the dial, but Watts said, "I can't let you do that, sir!" and tackled him.

"Hey!" Zone grunted as they wrestled across the floor, "You get to watch it all the time!"

"At least I watch it, sir! You just want to listen to scrambled porn!"

"I could make it come in!"

The two wrestled around only stopping when they heard mention of Esthar on the tele. Laguna had been killed by Odine 2 weeks ago...

The duo sprang up and told the White SeeD Leader who ordered a heading to Esthar. Zone buckled over and Watts complained that they wanted to go home, but the leader felt a great indebtedness to Laguna for taking care of Ellone.

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Squall unpacked the radio that he brought along despite Rinoa's wishes. He squatted down and set it up in the corner of the living room. Kaytsu had finished his exploration of the 4-roomed cabin and now walked over to his father, curiously watching his every move. When Squall finished tinkering with the radio, he rolled onto his back and picked up the little toddler. "Kay," he smiled and Kaytsu beamed back, "we are going to have so much fun here. We'll sled everyday... and go fishing, and hiking... All that good stuff."

Squall bounced him around and Rinoa smiled as she watched from the kitchen. Then she retuned to unpacking the pots and pans.

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Well there you have it. That's the set up. I know Rinoa is still Rinoa after 10 chaptyrs, but let me tell you, or should I say warn you, things are going to come to a close pretty soon. This is the calm before the storm. And what a storm Kheheheh.


	11. Covert Opps

In this Chaptyr General Gartier is about to play a major role in the turn of events and take his country out of the confinements of serenity. Brace yourself; there will be death...

I own Gartier and Kaytsu, but all others are the intellectual property of Squaresoft.

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It wasn't difficult to rally the tremendous amount of men against the man who laid them off. General Gartier simply promised them pay, and the ex-soldiers gladly took up their familiar arms and obeyed.

Gartier didn't want to spread his men thin, but at the same time he had to knock out the lines of communication just in case Esthar would answer President Dincht's calls. The army was swift and precise. They seized the Communication Tower of Dollet and the Radio Station of Timber simultaneously. With those in hand he made sure that no one sent a distress signal of any sort, continuing the regularly scheduled programming. Gartier called for martial law in both cities. No one in, no one out. Meaning that the trains would be down (something any dimwit in Dealing would notice), so he had to take Dealing fairly swiftly, and so he sent in a squad of 5. If he could take out Dincht, he could avoid a lot of trouble.

Each of the Squad members were dressed as army grunts, but they were the strongest and most cunning of Gartier's army. They moved into the city aboard a train with some citizenry who were ignorant of the soldiers' motives.

"What a beautiful city," Kahl, the leader of the group, remarked when reaching the top of the escalator. "Let's do it."

It was easy to move about in the city. Upon reaching the palace, Hett and Tracy stayed on the outside. They replaced the two that usually stood in front of the gates who were more than happy to get off duty early. The remaining 3 raided the palace without confrontation. They made it to the main hallway, once they had made it there, it was anyone's guess where President Dincht resided.

"Hey," Kahl asked one of the guards that lined the hallway. "where's President Dincht?" The two others in the squad grinded their teeth as they prepared for an overt attack.

"Who wants to know?" an officer approached Kahl.

Kahl smiled and replied casually, "God, I just wanted to know where the big cheese was, that's all."

"He's working in his ready room, and you should be working just as hard as '_the big cheese_,' so report to your station immediately!" the officer bellowed.

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Hett and Tracy heard the officer via Kahl's wire, and they moved from the gates around to the ready room.

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"Ok, ok. No need to yell." Kahl had studied the floor plan, and started walking toward the ready room. "(This is ridiculously easy... it boarders on boring.)"

"Where's your station, soldier?" the officer asked.

"Bite me." As reached for his side arm, the men beside him held their breaths.

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Zell sat at his desk stroking his goatee as he looked over a few propositions from the science department. He stretched his arms out wide and yawned a bit. "What the--" he looked at the clock. "It's only 1 am..."

Suddenly he heard gunshots blasting everywhere, and that sure woke him up.

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Hett looked down from the hillside and saw the president stretching in his ready room and pulled the pin on the grenade, but just then Dincht left the room. Hett exchanged glances with Tracy and shrugged. Hett threw the grenade through the window and into the ready room.

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Zell looked around, hopeless. The way out of the Presidential Palace was where the shots were being fired. "(I can get out of here through the Presidential Suit.)" he thought to himself. Suddenly the room beside him exploded. The door knocked him into the wall opposite and there was fire everywhere. Zell found himself under a fiery door. He pushed himself away from the flames on the carpet and flipped the door off of him. The whoosh of air led the fire further down the hallway. Before Zell could comprehend what was going on, the two soldiers jumped down through what was once a window. He rolled down the hallway to avoid their bullets. A very haggard Zell rose to his feet, covered in soot and dripping with blood. He tried desperately to junction a GF as he ran, but he couldn't concentrate due to the trauma on his head.

"He's headed to the suite," Hett reported into the wire. Hett and Tracy walked briskly down the hall.

On the panel of silvery buttons, Zell quickly entered a code and opened the door to his suit. He closed the door behind him and ran to his bedroom. Zell rolled across the bed and squatted down on the other side. In the drawer next to the bible were his old, familiar Ehrgeiz. Zell wiped the blood off his brow then slipped into the adamantine gloves and punched his fists together. It seemed that he had a moment, so he tried again to junction.

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Hett kicked the door, but it would not give. Tracy pulled him aside and shot the door handle up. His partner smiled and pushed the door open with a single hand. The two men walked boldly into the room, seeing bloodstains across the white bed. Tracy and Hett exchanged glances and shot the bed through and through with their machine guns.

Zell flew out from the side throwing a low round kick to knock the machine gun out of Hett's hands. Tracy brought his gun around to shoot at Zell, but a quickly thrown protect spell deflected the bullets.

With his left hand still holding the protect spell against the onslaught of the machine gun, Zell performed a forward flip in place, landing Hett 2 strong blows to the head. Hett was out cold.

The protect spells were running low, Zell could feel it. With the last of them he used all his might to project the spell forward. The shield rushed forward and bowled Tracy over just before disappearing into a light mist. Zell moved on top of Tracy, his foot pinned down the hand that held the machine gun.

"What do you want! Who sent you!" Zell shouted to the pinned soldier holding out a single hand over the man's face.

Magic hadn't been seen much on the battlefield and Tracy didn't feel the threat that Zell held over him, otherwise he very well might have spewed some answers. Instead he challenged his power. Tracy wrapped his legs around Zell and pulled him down. Zell rolled back until he reached his feet.

Tracy didn't even bring his gun around before the spell had been called. Lasers emanated from his body and his insides shrunk as his outside burned. The end result was flaming pieces of his body flying everywhere. That was overkill. The fury inside Zell's eyes died when chunks of brain splattered onto him.

The former SeeD heard soldiers coming toward him. Looking to his right he could see them in the corridor. His hand jutted to the right and was able to cast a single spell before he had to once again dodge bullets.

Kahl turned to Detour, a member of his squad, who seemed to gag and sputter as he looked at some aberration that only he could see. He held up his hands and waved them wildly just before he fell over dead. Kahl reached into his pocket and dropped a Phoenix Down on top of him. Detour rose.

Fitz was already ahead of them backing his prey into a corner. Zell tried desperately to get into the escape hatch, but that was covered by Fitz's gunfire. He had no more protect spells so he couldn't just rush out of there. He tried to think of another way...

Kahl moved into the room and dropped some potions on Hett then proceeded to rouse him with a few kicks. Detour saw the pile of guts that was once Tracy and sagged against a wall as his stomach bubbled up. The blood was everywhere...

Fitz turned around and held his spinning head. He looked at the rest of the squad and remembered that _they_ were the enemy. Suddenly he opened fire on his comrades. Kahl leapt back as the bullets ripped through both Hett and Detour.

While they fought amongst themselves, Zell jumped down the hatch. Unexpectedly, he had company...

Kahl reached around the corner with his machine gun and shot up Fitz, waking him up and killing him in the process. Kahl didn't know that he was under a spell, and simply didn't want to revive the 'traitor.'

The leader looked to see if President Dincht was still there, but found that he was already in the hatch. "(He has proved to be quite a challenge,)" he said to himself as he looked over his fallen comrades. "(but it's time to end this...)" Kahl opened the hatch and was shot point-blank in the head by General Caraway himself.

Zell heaved a sigh of relief as he sat on the ground in his tattered clothes. "Please, someone..." he pleaded as he looked to the Galbadian soldiers that surrounded him, "tell me what the hell is going on."

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Explosive, ja? Bet you thought I was gonna kill off Zell! How do you like the action? I couldn't exactly make it interesting in game format, but what do you think?

Now I've created Kahl, Hett, Tracy, Detour, and Fitz. Yay! Oh, wait... their dead. Or are they? Kheheheh.

Yeah, their dead...


	12. The First Wave of Many

Alrighty. In the last chaptyr, Gartier attempted a sting operation, and failed. In this chaptyr we will see the results of the attack on the Presidential Palace. Oh, Squall, why'd you have to leave at a time like this?

I own Gartier, Kaytsu, and... some dead folks, but all others are the intellectual property of SquareSoft.

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President Dincht and company headed over to Caraway's mansion. It wasn't fit for presidential matters, but at least it wasn't on fire... They all sat in the mansions large living area as Zell gave out the orders.

"This is a challenge that we aren't prepared for. A rebellion from within our own state..." Zell's mind slowly began to plan things out. "Get the security up to maximum. No one simply disguised as an officer should be able to penetrate our defenses. The trains should be halted immediately; they could carry as many as 500 of the enemy's troops into the heart of the city. Man the sewers as well." He paused for a moment at the stinging solution the nurse was applying. "They too provide easy access to the city. Kumi," Dincht asked, "calculate the numbers for me. SeeDs are worth 20 men." Kumi nodded and readied his calculator. "We will call upon our reserves and the Galbadian Garden. We will also tell Squall we're going to hire all the SeeDs we can get."

"Squall doesn't lead Balamb Garden anymore, Mr. President," Caraway corrected.

"Oh, right. Then buy every SeeD in Balamb Garden from Quistis. We will also need contracts to find and infiltrate the enemy base. Now, if that takes 10 SeeDs, and securing the boarders take 4 thousand soldiers, what is our strength, Kumi?"

Kumi punched in the last few digits on the calculator as everyone waited in silence. "...Approximately 125,800."

Everyone looked to President Dincht for approval. "Sounds good," he answered as he leaned back into his chair to let the nurse finish bandaging him up.

"What of the people, Mr. President?" Caraway asked.

"Shit..." he cursed. There was no protection for them until his forces were at maximum. "They can either gather up arms or take shelter atop the Golden Gate..." Everyone looked at him bewildered that he would suggest such a thing after he had worked so hard to keep his people out of the line of fire, but these were desperate times. "Move it!" he commanded and everyone was suddenly up and in motion. He rubbed his head.

"How are you holding up?" General Caraway approached the young president.

"I've felt better."

"I know what you mean. Here," Caraway tossed an X-Potion over to Zell. "you have more points to renew with that GF equipped, remember?" he winked.

Zell used the item and replied with renewed vigor, "I almost forgot! Thanks, Caraway."

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General Gartier's squad had stopped transmitting signals, and since the small devices ran on the energy generated by the heartbeat, that could only mean...

"General Gartier, sir. The squad has failed, sir," reports his informant, Ian.

The general cursed under his breath, then growled, "Well, tell the troops to move in then! That _would_ be our next move!"

"Sir, yessir!"

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The former Galbadian soldiers turned 'Arturine' were outside the train. Some were still up playing cards by the fireside, but most were asleep. Suddenly the train whistle howled and the train started to move along. Everyone scrambled, waking their comrades, or gathering their winnings. Soon the train was moving through the night and heading to Dealing, which was just on the horizon.

The Galbadians rode from Dealing in their hummers along side various tracks to their posts at the borders. A man stood up through the roof of the hummer and let the cold wind whip over his body. He stared into the darkness of the night seeing nothing except the tracks catching the light off of the vehicle's own lights.

The man started when the big shadow of a conductor raced in the other direction. He ducked down and yelled for the hummers' about face. The dozen or so hummers performed a well-coordinated tight u-turn and soon caught up with the train. One hummer strayed far to the front to disable the tracks, in the meanwhile, the others raced alongside the train.

The Arturine soldiers began to stir, but they didn't know what to do with the Galbadians outside. The leader of the G-Unit had the soldiers simultaneously throw their grenades, which stuck to the target, and pulled away from the train. Those aboard the train scrambled to return the sticky bombs, but they just found themselves sticking to it. The train blew up in a glorious fire that lit up the night. The group of 200 took out 500 enemies just like that.

The Galbadians hosted many victories over the train wars that night, but the Arturine soldiers had assembled too fast for the Galbadian soldiers, and managed to ride 3 trains into the city. The Galbadian forces were still unprepared as of that night, but managed to stop them just before the Golden Gate.

In the morning, it was announced that the boarders were secured, but Galbadia had suffered a great many casualties within Dealing. 1,500 soldiers raided the city. 2,300 lives were lost to stop them. The odds were not in their favor for close-ranged combat.

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Somehow General Gartier found it in him to wake up at 6am and spring merrily out of bed. He threw on his uniform, but hardly did his tie or buttoned close his jacket. He smiled a toothy grin while he asked, "So, is he dead or alive?"

"President Dincht hasn't been captured, if that's what you mean, sir," Ian replied adding, "He has resisted all of our troops."

"All...?" Gartier repeated to himself. His eyes were wide with surprise. "Impressive. How did you beat 11.5 thousand, Dincht, in one night?"

"...It would seem he knew that the troops would move via train. All train ways are down."

"Well, let's keep sending the soldiers in. Dincht will run out of manpower long before we do," he sounded very sure of himself. "But, let's finish this off before the Garden arrives. Prepare the machines and 50 thousand men. I want them all there and fighting today!" he shouted.

"Sir," Ian began, "we don't have enough vehicles for 50 thousand men..."

"How many can we send in?"

"...17,250, and that's with no machines, sir."

Gartier was infuriated that this was the best his army could do, but this attack combined with the last would surely bring the Galbadian army down. "Send in 15 thousand. That will be enough. While we wait, let's get some ships and cars built."

"Sir, yessir!"

"Make the cities do it, and pay the soldiers whatever."

"Sir, yessir!"

"An immobile army is a useless army."

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Headmaster Trepe parked the garden over the cliff side nearest Dealing City. There she built a rope bridge of sorts that zagged its way to the top. It was built in less than an hour, and soon Quistis was having tea with the president as they discussed business. Sure enough, Dincht bought out the whole garden. Quistis was even got in on the action. She promised to find the Arturo base and lead the infiltration.

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... ...I don't like this chaptyr. There has to be a better way to write about moving armies.

Anyway, just incase you lost count the score is:

Zell: about 4000 on the boarder, 700+ in the city of Dealing, 3000 in reserve, and 2800 SeeDs

Gartier: 15000 on their way to Dealing, 128,500 at home.


	13. War Encompasses All

In this chaptyr, I'm stepping away from writing about the warfare. Just know that there's lots of fighting and blood and guts. In fact, this story will fast forward through many years, and we'll see what the family is up to during this period of gruesome war.

I own no characters other than Gartier, Kaytsu, and Ian.

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Steady hands carefully diced the dried raze in preparation of the dinner that the boys would soon bring home. Raze tastes much like a spicy version of parsley and complements fish well. As Rinoa diligently made the preparations, Squall came up and embraced her from behind. He rocked back and forth gently as he whispered into her ear.

Kaytsu sat on the floor as he struggled with his boots. He pounded his heal to the ground several times and heard his mother giggle. "Hey!" he shouted, "You'd better not be kissing in there!"

"We're not!" she lied.

He looked over to the kitchen and saw the two part lips. He shook his head and jumped to his feet and put on his heavy parka.

"Do you need us to stop by Shumi Village while we're out?" Squall asked Rinoa.

"I could use some vegetables," she said turning around, "but it's much too late in the day for you all to travel that far." Rinoa pulled the fur-lined hood over his head and ran her hands down his chest. "Stay warm," she told him and gave him a very warming kiss.

"Ehem..." Little Kaytsu stood behind them.

"And you stay warm too," she chuckled. She leaned over fastening his coat as tightly as only a mother could, and sent him off with a kiss.

They were headed out the door, crunching along as Rinoa waved goodbye to her 'baby.' Before they were even out of earshot, Kay turned to his father asking, "Dad? Can I use the gunblade some more?" His eyes were steady on the Revolver.

He turned to his son and whispered, "_Shh!_ Your mother is still watching!"

Rinoa shook her head in disapproval. Squall and Kay threw back a glance and waved to see if she heard anything. She smiled, waved a bit, and went inside. She had long known that Squall had been training Kay in the use of the gunblade, but she would never think of inhibiting them; Squall was passing on his own childhood and bonding with his son. "(This bond will never be broken.)" she thought to herself as she watched the father-son pair disappear over the hillside.

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The lake seemed to stretch into forever. It matched the light of the clouded sky, making it hard to tell where the lake ended and the sky began. There were never any distortions in its perfect face and it was almost a shame, Squall thought, to cast out a single line, let alone two. Kay, of course, liked the break in monotony and watched the ripples shout across the lake.

When the lake was perfectly still once again, Kaytsu began to ask the hard questions, "...Why do you and mom kiss?"

"What?" Squall paused for a moment. This was the first question of its kind. "…Mom kisses you, too."

"You know what I mean..." he glared at his father.

Squall brought his head down to his hand for a moment then came up with, "When a woman likes a man, the woman kisses him."

There was a silence as Kay absorbed this information. "...But sometimes I see you kiss mom. Do you _like_ to kiss her like that?" he asked with his face all askew.

Squall frowned, "(Where are all these questions coming from? ...He _is_ a pre-teen. I guess now is the time when he starts asking. But how am I supposed to know what to say?) ...Sure, I like to kiss her."

"Gross!" he sneered with a smile on his face.

"I don't think so," Squall replied, adding, "Kay, when you're in love, it's just what you do. It's what comes natural. ...You will understand it when you're older."

"You mean... I will kiss girls too?"

Squall nodded.

Kaytsu shook his head vigorously.

Squall continued to nod until he broke into a little laugh.

"What? What's funny?" Kay asked only receiving a shrug. Kay pushed his bottom lip up in an effort to keep from smiling, but in his failure he just threw some snow at his dad. Squall grounded his pole and there began a snowball fight.

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On the way back, the two bumped into each other time and time again. Each of them carried 2 sizable fish (Squall had given one to Kaytsu to carry). The sun was all but set when the boys pushed their way over the last hill. Squall stopped.

"What is it, dad? You tired?" Kaytsu, getting no answer, looked in the direction of his father's gaze. There, next to the house, sat the great, crimson dragon, the Ragnorok. Squall proceeded to the house, Kaytsu keeping up right behind him.

Squall walked onto the porch, his heavy boots took only a single step before Rinoa was at the door. She didn't say anything, but her expression was fearful. Kaytsu picked up on this and was worried himself, and being directed to his room only confirmed that he had reason to worry.

Headmaster Trepe was direct and went strait to the heart of the matter. She described to him a world in turmoil because of a traitorous general. Squall listened intently while Rinoa's face was consumed with concern. She knew what they wanted of her husband. Trepe told them, "Gartier even got recruits from Dollet and Timber, the very cities he had captured, using the Timber Maniacs to spread his propaganda to the youth. He took FH too, and he's manufacturing ships and robots there. ...He's building an unstoppable force. Trabia Garden sees this, and is pulling out its SeeD. President Dincht is almost out of this fight..."

"It's been like this since you left," Irvine informed.

"Yeah, it's like they were waiting for you to leave," observed Selphie.

"Squall," the headmaster continued, "everyone in the world recognizes the Lionheart. Your very _presence_ could make the Arturo army buckle. We know where Gartier is. We're just asking that you join our storm on the compound and watch our backs while we take out Gartier."

"How many are in the compound?" Rinoa put forth the question with a tint of anger in her voice.

"50 thousand or so." An honest, ghastly answer.

"And how many are you taking in to storm the place?"

"It will be Selphie, Irvine, Xu, myself, and 4 others."

Rinoa shouted tearfully, "Nine! Against 50 thousand!"

"We're not fighting them, Noa. We're just to eliminate Gartier and their structure will crumble."

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said sarcastically, "it's 50 thousand against nine… Thanks for clearing the air on that one, Quistis!"

Quistis learned of Rinoa's fear of losing Squall when they had left the garden, and so stayed calm, but she was on the breaking point. Squall was their only hope of taking out Gartier and saving the world, but Rinoa would rather he stayed home with her. "(Selfish.)"

Squall stood up before the situation turned into a yelling match. "Quistis, I'll need time to think." Rinoa eyed Headmaster Trepe suspiciously as Squall walked the SeeDs out the door.

"Squall," Quistis spoke in a low tone on the other side of the door, Rinoa listening in, "you are the only chance we have to eliminate this threat. Please consider this. We need you."

Squall gently shut the door without a word. He turned, seeing his angry wife. "You're really going to do it, aren't you?"

Squall leaned against the door. "...It looks like I have no choice."

"You do have a choice! Squall..." she pleaded, "stay with us. You don't have to go."

"Without me," He pushed himself off of the door. "they don't stand a chance." He went to their bedroom.

She got up and followed after him. "That's their problem, not ours."

Squall spun on heal at those words. "What? You would have me turn my back on my friends? On Zell who _I_ appointed president? On Quistis, who _I_ appointed headmaster?" He turned back around and rummaged through the closet in the dark. "No... I can't abandon them in the positions that I assigned them. ...I have to join them on their last chance to nail this guy." He pulled down a long, black case with various clutter crashing to the floor. He slammed the case onto the bed and popped open the latches on either side.

A blue light seeped out from the cracks until Rinoa pushed the case shut, grabbing hold of Squall's full attention. "Squall, don't leave your son... don't leave me," she cried in the dark.

Squall heard her voice breaking and reached for her, bringing her into his warm arms. "Rinoa... I will _never_ leave you or my son. One attack— one raid, and I'm out of there."

Rinoa tugged at the soft fur on Squall's parka. "Why do you have to go at all?"

"Nine years, Rinoa, _nine years _they've been at war. This could all be solved in one night..."

There was no use arguing with him, she decided. He was resolved to go. "Here," she replied somberly, her spirit broken. Rinoa gave him Diablo and Cactar. She held him tightly and kissed him as lovers do.

From the case, he produced the Lionheart. Squall gave squeezes to Kaytsu and then was out the door. Rinoa stood in the doorway and tearfully watched the Ragnarok disappear into the darkness of the night. She slumped against the door and slid helplessly to the wooden planks below.

Kay heard her crying and went to her. "He'll be back, mom," he assured her as he stroked her hair. "He's really good with that gunblade, you know. You don't have to worry." A wind whipped over the tundra, sending shivers down their spines. "Come on, mom. It's cold out," little Kaytsu helped her up and brought her inside.

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...So, any predictions for the future? But please don't 'spoiler' up the reply.


	14. War Song

In the previous chaptyr, everything seemed to be going well for our little family. Then Squall was called to the battlefield by his friends who just can't do it by themselves. Now 30 year-old Squall will return to his SeeD lifestyle and raid Gartier's base. What will come of this raid? Rinoa has a bad feeling about all of this...

I own Gartier, Ian, and Kaytsu, but no others.

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As soon as Squall boarded the ship, he was handed a special suit to wear. He slipped into it without hesitation, happy to trade the well insulated, heavy seal coat and pants in for the breezy, form-fitting, ebony suit. The only things that broke the monotonous darkness were the navy blue lines that played along the stitches, and Squall's Griever chain.

Squall entered the darkened bridge with the Lionheart's illumination drawing the attention of all who were on the bridge. Those who had never seen it were in awe as they viewed the great sword and the wielder that basked in its blue light.

"Lookin' good!" Selphie called from the cockpit.

His face remained somber and cold as he pressed to the front where the familiar faces were. "You've told me everything about Galbadia," he spoke quietly among his friends, "but what of... Esthar?"

"("Esthar?" You mean to ask what became of Odine, your father's murderer.)" Quistis surmised. However, she would not tease and teach him to express himself because this was such a sensitive matter. "Esthar was assisted by the White SeeDs in search of Dr. Odine. They found him a couple of years ago when Ellone finally was able to tap into Odine's nearest past, or present..." Quistis frowned in her confusion. She never really got it. "Anyway, she figured out he was in the moving lab and the White SeeD ship picked him up."

"Moving lab?"

"You know," Irvine turned, "the lab with the Ultima Weapon."

"Oh, man..." Irvine shook his head in disbelief, "how could you forget the Ultima Weapon?"

Quistis finished Esthar's story, "The White SeeDs didn't bring him back to Esthar, however. Kiros wanted Odine to serve a life term in prison, but the SeeDs had another plan in mind. They slaughtered the doctor outright, forcing him to ingest broken glass."

"(I should have been the one to end his life...)"

Squall took a seat apart from his comrades, and they let him to himself. The remainder of the flight was taken in complete silence. The ride on the Ragnarok was long despite its speed and lonely despite its familiar company.

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Tears rolled over the sides of his up-turned face. He bit his lip. Another swig of alcohol scared away some worries, but did nothing to drive away the pain. Heavy boots strode over and sat on the edge of the desk next to the man who sat on the floor. The man wiped his face curling up and rolling into the side of the desk away from the new comer.

General Caraway looked over his left shoulder to the depredated man. "(There was so much promise from this young man... Now he is a pitiful sight, lying here drunk on the floor...)" Caraway sighed and brought around his gaze to the floor in front of him.

The two men stared into nothingness.

Another swig? No, it wasn't helping. Zell placed the bottle beside him. He was beginning to feel a little talkative. "...The people... _My_ people... I wanted so much for them. Seeing them in the throws of war so long ago... As their leader, I didn't want to see them suffer anymore. ...I... came up with another way for Galbadia to get along in the world..." Zell's voice was breaking, so he paused to gather his strength. "but, it would seem, despite all my efforts, war and death will always preside over Galbadia. Its own people turned against me!" A _real_ swig, now, that burned well up into his nose.

"Good intentions are not always enough," the general assured. "You've done a fine job. Don't you give up on us now, President Dincht.."

"A fine job...?" he scoffed. "I've done nothing but cause civil war."

Caraway took a look at President Dincht. "You caused it? No, it is Gartier that attacks us."

"...I can't even... protect these people from Gartier... or my Ma."

"President Dincht, your strategic planning has saved us all. Under anyone else, Galbadia would have already fallen to Gartier's force. But it hasn't. And it won't. Victory is on our horizon."

Zell turned and threw an incredulous look to this seriously deluded optimist. "(We won't have victory. Trabia has left our shrinking army while Gartier continues to grow.)" He looked back to his bottle thinking, "(I'll take what he's having...)"

"Tonight, Squall Leonhart will lead a SeeD force to assassinate Gartier."

Zell spun around, grabbed the corner of the desk, and rose to his feet. "Squall!" he asked excitedly.

The drunkard was wobbly on his feet and Caraway stood up to balance him out. "Yes," Caraway smiled heartily. Dincht laughed and brought the general into a strong bear hug. He choked a bit and patted the president on the back.

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"This is it!" Selphie announced.

Squall walked over to the window expecting to see the lights below, but all was pitch black. The light from the moon revealed little.

Headmaster Trepe called for them to move out. The group rushed to the elevator and then to the cargo area where the headmaster then opened the hatch. The wind swirled through the cargo room trying to pull them in. The SeeDs held fast to the ropes as they moved towards the gaping hatch. They waited for the headmaster's signal...

Just when Trepe turned to signal the jump, Squall rushed past them all, plummeting into the night's sky. His legs were above his head and pressed together as he fell chest-first to the earth below. With his eyes closed, he looked as though he was resting, but suddenly his eyes flashed open and, "Float!" he yelled into the wind. Wings appeared on his back and he was yanked upright, his legs pointed to the ground. The wings' struggle to slow his descent was tremendous. Squall touched down as gently as a feather, and the float spell retired.

Everything went according to plan. The floodlights were activated and sirens blared as the Arturine soldiers crowded around the invader, guns drawn. Squall remained still with his sword planted in the ground in front of him.

"Th-th-that's the Lionheart!" a soldier warned his comrades.

Squall's audience began to clamor. He then got in his stance and criss-crossed the sword in front of him causing the Arturine soldiers to jump back in fear. Just then Quistis, Xu, Irvine, and the 5 other SeeDs came falling out of the sky, their floats also gave up upon reaching the ground.

"Squall!" Trepe yelled over the sirens.

It was time to put the plan into action. He brought the heavy sword to the ground and ran at the Arturo. The scared soldiers cleared the way making it easy for the 9 SeeDs to move on Gartier's headquarters. Squall kept the soldiers at bay while Xu worked with a code-breaking device at the door and the 4 unnamed SeeDs secured the other sides of the compound.

Irvine laughed as he ran past Squall, "This is too easy!"

Squall threw a glance over to Irvine. "(Whenever someone gets cocky enough to say that...)" Squall gripped the Lionheart firmly feeling that something was amiss. Something was not right. For him, the sirens seemed to quiet down as he scanned the area. The sirens stopped. "(...Nothing.)"

Out of the blackness of the night a GIM52A flew out from Squall's left side, knocking him clear across the way with its shoulder. It rotated its shoulders as Squall slid across the dirt.

Trepe turned to Xu and yelled for her to "Get that code!"

Squall found himself on the ground kneeling, and was about to rip apart that machine when another appeared on his right firing Micro Missiles. He leapt away from the missiles' path as they curved inward. The explosion found him on his back where a Wendigo galloped out of nowhere and moved on top of him. It lifted its heavy fists and brought them crashing down, but Squall moved his head just in time.

Irvine rushed in with a spell.

The Wendigo then tried to crush his head with one hand, but found that it suddenly couldn't see. It roared wildly as it stretched itself skyward and rubbed its eyes. Squall kneed the creature in the rear, sending him rolling to Irvine.

Quistis was beginning to feel very claustrophobic as the fighting was closing in on them. Just then the decoder device chimed and the door slid open. Quistis and Xu smiled as they moved in.

Irvine cocked his Exeter and shot at the Wendigo ineffectively. The blinding black cloud shifted over its eyes sometimes permitting some vision. It saw the shooter and rambled over to him. Irvine coolly reloaded as the heavy beast came at him. He put out a hand to meet the monster's head and wheeled over the creature and shot him in the back of the head. The bullet tore through with a tail of blood. The Wendigo fell over, dead.

Squall hopped to his feet and charged at GIM52A that had fired the missiles. The machine prepared its self to attack the approaching enemy, but Squall called out a Thundaga and short-circuited the machine long enough to move in close. He then brought the adamantine sword through the middle of the machine, cutting it in half. Sparks flew from the fallen robot. Squall moved in and drew some Thundaga before the machine's eyes were faded completely.

Squall looked to Irvine who was busy fighting a Thrustaevis. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the yellow figure of GIM47N approaching fast. Squall leapt into the air and the GIM47N buried his fist into the ground. Squall landed on the machine's great fist and ran up onto his arm where he tried to jam his sword into the moving parts of its head. A great deal of sparks flew, but the Lionheart couldn't pierce this armor. The GIM47N rocked to its feet, and sprang his arms up sending Squall flying. He flipped in the air and landed nicely.

"Look out!" one of the SeeDs called from the roof as he ran to the battlefield (now that the headquarters were penetrated, the headmaster ordered 2 to assist).

Squall turned and saw a stocky SAM08G bring its arms over its head. Squall caught a hold of the machines heavy arms as they came down and shivered as he struggled to keep them from crushing him. His strength was waning. Irvine and the other 2 SeeDs were moving towards them, but it was as if they moved in slow motion. The SAM08G swung its tail around, landing it on Squall's side. He yelled out in his pain and Quezacolt bolted from the sky. The battlefield was swept with the GF's powerful current that seemed to consume all except the SeeD members.

When the light cleared, Quezacolt was gone and Squall panted as he knelt over the ground amongst the mechanical ruins. He reached his left hand to feel the other side of his body, which was numbed. He looked at his gloved hands. Blood.

"Curaga," Lan casted upon reaching Squall first. It helped, but it did nothing to stop the bleeding.

The Arturo spirit was encouraged at the sight of Leonhart's blood. It was like a sign that he was mortal and could be brought down. The arms within the crowd clicked. And the crowd marched in on the SeeDs among them a giant figure bearing a cleaver of sorts.

Squall leaned against the Lionheart and pushed himself up.

Just then Headmaster Trepe emerged from the compound kicking Gartier to the ground. All eyes turned to the general and the headmaster. Gartier stumbled to his feet trying to run to the safety of his army, but stopped in his tracks upon seeing 4 uniformed SeeDs. He was surrounded. All he could hope for was to be captured. "Stop!" he commanded the Arturo as he tasted his own blood. Gartier wiped the blood that was streaming from his nose. "Do not fire on the SeeDs!" he sputtered out as his weak knees gave in. "I sur-sur..."

Trepe trudged over to Gartier. "We are not looking for your surrender." She leaned down and whispered into his ear, "Those are not our orders..." Then his head was ripped back making him gulp for air. She brought around a hunting knife and slit his throat wide open and threw him to the dirt. The surrounding area was quickly consumed with the darkness that was his blood.

"It's over!" Xu announced. The remaining 2 SeeDs appeared on the rooftop.

Quistis pointed the bloody knife at the army as she bellowed, "This means any action taken will be of your own accord and you will be judged! You are free men and can do as you please, but know that your benevolent president welcomes you home!"

The lost soldiers murmured in their astonishment and delight at such a kind gift to traitors— complete and total amnesty. The crowd slowly diffused.

Selphie landed the Ragnarok skillfully on Gartier's headquarters. Squall sagged against the building. He didn't have the energy to climb it. Lan reached her hand from the top as Irvine gave him a boost.

Lan almost caught hold of his hand when she felt a shadow on her. She looked up and her Asian eyes were wide with fright. "Oh, no... Duck!"

Irvine threw back a look and saw a massive mechanical giant. With the crowd dissipated it had slowly crept upon its targets and now was executing its cleaver attack. Irvine ducked down purely out of instinct. Squall seemed to hang in midair as the attack swiftly closed in. The cleaver would have sliced him in half if it weren't for his high vitality. Instead, it sent Squall flying.

"Nooo!" Irvine screamed as he cocked his gun. He blasted the Iron Giant again and again to no avail.

Lan quickly used a blind spell on the giant, then she began to summon.

"All of you, wait here! Selphie, prepare to take off as soon as we're aboard!" Headmaster Trepe commanded.

"Yes, ma'am!" they all shot back as she fled Ragnarok's cockpit to rescue Squall.

As she passed the giant she used a Sleep, but Irvine's 'mad rush' woke it right back up again. Quistis jumped off the side of the building, landing hard. She looked back at the battle and was surprised to find that the Arturo were using electric stones against their Iron Giant. Quistis ran to Squall's aid.

Anubis, called by Lan, put the giant to the test of time. The shinny finish lost its edge and rust ate holes at its joints, but still it stood. The Arturo kept up their electrical onslaught, but overall the giant was unaffected by it.

The Iron Giant screeched as it brought its cleaver down on Irvine. Irvine easily evaded the attack and now called on his own GF. Leviathan slithered from the very moisture in the air and snaked its way to the rusted out machine. Leviathan wrapped itself around its enemy and erupted into a rush of water, entering the machine through its holy exterior.

The wounded SeeD hobbled back with Trepe under his arm, helping him along.

Sparks sprayed from the Iron Giant as the light of electricity danced over its body. Everyone was all smiles as they took pride in their victory. It then began to tip forward, releasing a wave of electrically charged water. Irvine's smile faded as he turn and ran up the wall behind him. Lan helped to pull him up.

Trepe stopped, dead in her tracks as the surge of water came straight at them. She could do nothing to save them. She was like a deer caught in the headlights. Suddenly the water froze solid in front of her. The couple looked to the roof and saw Shiva standing next to little Selphie who was waving ecstatically. Quistis relieved her breath with a little smile. Squall groaned as they continued their jog.

Once aboard the Ragnarok, Selphie sped off to Esthar where the finest medical technicians were.

Xu, Quistis, Irvine, and Lan, who felt guilty, were all gathered around Squall. He was laid on his back and his shirt was cut off. On the left side (where the cleaver had hit) all of his ribs were broken, his lungs undoubtedly pierced. Irvine apologized profusely as Squall appeared to slip in and out of consciousness. Cures and Remedies were administered, but in the end, the SeeDs had no real medical knowledge.

The wounded lion grabbed Irvine's coat with his remaining strength. "Tell..." he whispered so softly that Irvine lent his ear all the way to Squall's lips. Squall spoke in between shallow breaths. "...Tell Rinoa and... Kaytsu..."

Irvine shut his eyes tight, hating to hear Squall giving up.

"I... love them."

Irvine brought a hand around and griped Squall's collar tightly as if to keep him with them.

"Tell her... _not_... to be angry." He sighed and his grip on Irvine loosened.

Irvine rubbed his face against Squall's as he hugged him dearly.

"Phoenix Down! Now!" Quistis commanded.

Irvine kept his back towards his friends as he walked away. He still stayed in the room to listen to the attempts to bring his comrade back.

Xu turned to Quistis, "It's not working...!"

Quistis shoved her out the way and began to compress his chest. "1... 2... Oh, God!" she cried as blood ran out of his mouth and down the side of his face.

Lan turned in disgust.

"Come on!" Quistis prepared to perform more compressions, but Xu pulled her away. Quistis struggled with Xu until she broke down in tears. Xu held her close and rocked her gently.

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This has been a long, stressful chaptyr. I'll need a break... You crying? I'm crying too. :'(


	15. Effect and Affect

I admit, I did an awful job of the last chaptyr 15, so now I present to you a chaptyr that will be of the same quality as the previous. And, I would like to apologize for all that read the previous ch15 and were exposed to many Alter Soul spoilers. I will try to make many enjoyable/interesting additions for you. Read on.

Kaytsu is the only character of mine that has survived the story. Oh, and maybe Ian. Anyways, no others belong to me.

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A bitter chill swept over the tundra that night. It rattled the windows of the petite cabin as it penetrated them. The draft whisked around the house, bringing a shiver to the two bodies that shared the bed, and waking Rinoa. She covered little Kaytsu who was sound asleep and rushed over to the windows to fasten them closed.

She sighed as she looked into the pitch-black night. Not even the stars seemed to shine. Lackadaisically, she returned to the warm sheets, bringing the comforter all the way up to her face.

Briefly she tossed in bed, feeling out of place. "(I can't go to sleep…) she frowned, "(is there something I've forgotten? Kaytsu is right here… The furnace is still burning brightly… The windows are closed… What is it?)"

The wind whispered softly against the windows…

Suddenly it hit her. She ran her feet in the bed and backed herself up against the headboard, her eyes wide and crazy. Diablo and Cactar, the guardians she had given to her husband, had returned to her. She could have asked them of Squall's fate, but she already knew…

No tears came. Only a blank face remained as shock overwhelmed her.

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The early rays of the sun warmed the artic tundra and brightened the cabin. The little boy tossed in the bed, bringing the heavy comforter up over his eyes to shield himself from the sun's radiance, but the heat of his breath was unsettling and he was forced to awaken.

He stretched his weary muscles and twisted around to face his mom. Kay was baffled as he observed a gray headed, vacant Rinoa sitting up against the headboard. Nevertheless, he crawled over to her and tenderly took hold of a lock of her whitish hair. "Look, mom, your hair is all white like."

She was unusually unresponsive and this puzzled the boy. It was as if she were asleep, he thought. Kaytsu shook her, softly calling, "Mom?" but she wouldn't wake up.

There was a rapping at the door. Kaytsu was reluctant to leave his mother's side, but perhaps his father could assist. Sprinting to the door, he threw the locks open, but was very discontented that his father was not standing in the doorway. In his place were the 3 that had taken him away.

Kay's little features warped as he vehemently bellowed, "Where's my father!"

"Easy there, kiddo," recommended the unfamiliar cowboy.

The green-eyed woman bent down to meet Kaytsu. "Where's your mom? We need to speak with her."

As he looked over the strangers, he mulled over whether or not these people were to be trusted. There was something reassuring about the cowboy, and his anger subsided and was replaced with hope.

"This way," he cried, "hurry!"

The gang noted the concern in his voice and briefly exchanged glances before rushing in. He led them to her bedroom where Rinoa slouched with her back against the headboard, staring off into the distance.

The youngest woman gasped and trilled, "What happened?"

Irvy removed his hat.

Kaytsu turned to the trio, asking, "You can help her, right?"

Quistis walked over to the invalid and snapped her fingers in front of her face, but could not draw her attention. Her and Irvine exchanged glances, but in the end all they could do was shrug. She turned back to Rinoa and pondered, "I wonder how long she's been like this…"

"She was like this since this morning when I woke up," he chimed in.

"Since you woke up…" she repeated to herself.

"…Are you going to help her…?" he put forth the question again.

Irvine turned and squatted down and held Kay, looking into his eyes, bright and liquid. "Kaytsu," he replied earnestly, "we are going to do all that we can to get Rinoa back. I promise you." He then scooped up the youngster into a warm embrace.

Selphie bit her lip as she listened to Irvine lay down this colossal promise. Kay should be accepting _what is_ right now, not relying on promises that they don't know if they can keep. Quistis felt the same way and gave Irvine 'the look' as he held the boy.

Irvine mouthed to Quistis, 'What was I supposed to do?'

Soon enough, Balamb Garden's own Dr. Kadowaski was examining Rinoa, while Irvine, seemingly the most maternal, was playing in the garden with Kaytsu. Quistis was at the good doctor's side awaiting any news that appeared promising. The news issued from Kadowaski, however, was anything but promising.

"Rinoa's mind is on another plane," she explained. "It is a means of defense and it protects her from whatever psychological trauma that she has endured. She likely cannot hear or recognize her surroundings or the people within them." Kadowaski sighed and threw a glance over the ageless young woman. "There are means of helping her past the shock,_ but_… that requires cooperation which she is incapable of providing; Rinoa is utterly unreachable."

Trepe turned away from the doctor. She was totally powerless, once again, to save a dear friend. She bowed her head in defeat and brought her gloves to wipe away the tears before they came rolling down. "(And how do I break this to Kaytsu…?)"

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This is reaching almost 3 pages, so I'm going to end it here. It looks like there will be many more chaptyrs now that I've redone this one.

Hm, they didn't tell Kaytsu about his father… It's not my bad, it's they way they did it. Besides, who wants to tell a kid that they've lost their father when he wakes up to his mother who's gone?

Next, they will tell Kay all about his father and a funeral will be held. Rinoa will go on what we call a 'dissociative fugue,' so stay in tune for the next chaptyr of… Altered Soul.


	16. Dissociative Fugue

**MAKE SURE YOU HAVE READ THE PREVIOUS CHAPTYR!** I have redone chaptyr 15.

Irvy has taken Kay under his wing, shielding him from the truths that his mother is out of reach and his father is dead. But, you can only keep these secrets for so long…

The only character I own really is Kaytsu. All others are a product of Squaresoft.

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The lifeless crew aboard the Ragnarok was starkly silent as they wobbled to the ship's turbulence. The silence was discomforting, but… what would anyone have to talk about?

Every occasionally, Irvine would throw a glace to any of the darkly attired persons on the bridge, especially at Kaytsu.

He sat close to his mom, never removing his eyes from her for a moment. Kay held her hand and brushed back the loose strands of hair that fell across her face.

He was patiently waiting for some kind of response, Irvine figured. Irvine shook his head sympathetically, and turned back to gaze into the sky. "(Kaytsu didn't even shed a tear when he found out his dad was long gone… I guess… he's got his mom to take care of.)"

Irvine saw his tough exterior as a sign of maturity, but Quistis and Selphie knew better. They found the behavior to be disturbing… unhealthy. He was bottling up all his feelings inside himself, gearing up to explode. Quistis was resolved to handle his emotional scars as soon as the funeral was ended…

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Irvine and Nida lead Rinoa in a slow and steady walk to one of the folding chairs. She was able to walk across the grassy plains with a bit of support, but, still, she remained unconscious. Kaytsu kept just ahead of them, clearing the way to a couple of seats up front. There was quite a turnout for the departed military leader. No faces that Kay knew, though they all seemed to know him—touching and patting him as he walked by.

A woman with a bottle green shawl that sharply contrasted with her ebony attire, walked into little Kaytsu's path. He looked up into her dark, flickering eyes. Somehow, he knew her… She gently ran the back of her hand across his cheek, which seemed to distress her. The woman then led the way to the front most seats.

The trio sat together, largely ignoring the mundane words of the minister; the minister's universal memorial service was entirely impersonal, (as they generally are) and Kay spent the majority of his time staring at his glossy, black shoes. Ellone kept her arm wrapped around his slender shoulders while her mind wandered back to the days when Squall was so tiny.

Meanwhile, Rinoa stared blankly forward…

She wasn't audience to the priest's sermon, or even to Squall's closest friends who each delivered a powerful and touching address. She was indifferent to any and every state of affair, peacefully dying within.

Soon Zell and Irvine were at either side of Rinoa, walking her to bid farewell to her dearly departed husband with Kaytsu escorting them.

Kay peered into the coffin and looked upon his lifeless father. He put his hands on the cedar and bowed his head, saying a few words. "(I'm…gonna miss you, dad. I love you, and… I'll take care of mom. So, like… just enjoy heaven and we'll be with you soon… Okay?)" He turned to Zell and Irvine who were approaching with his mother. "Let's give her some time alone to say goodbye," he suggested.

Once she made her final steps, Irvine tried to speak with her. "Noa… it's Squall." Her silence felt bitter, he thought, so he whispered out, "I'm so sorry Rinoa…" before he meandered away.

"Poor Rinoa…" Zell said as Kay pressed him to come with him.

Rinoa dumbly stood there, listed to the side a bit with her broken gait. She stared at the plush top of the opened coffin. Out of the corner of her eye, something demanded the attention of her secluded mind. Her eyes fell lower… lower… lower… and lower still, until they came across the sight of her dead spouse.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" she released a cry that was heard around the world and threatened the hearing of those present. They covered their ears as she continuously wailed to the heavens for mercy, her heart aching unbearably. Once her pain reached its limits, she thoughtlessly surrendered to the power of Angel Wing. Her mind was quieted as ebony wings unfolded from her back.

The moment it was safe to uncover their ears, Kaytsu, Quistis, and Zell immediately jumped to her side to comfort her, but on seeing the black wings, Zell outstretched his arms to hold them back.

Kay's jaws gaped as he watched his mother ascend a couple of feet and hover off into the distance at a fast rate. Realizing that she might not return, he somehow pushed past Zell. He ran after her futilely, screaming, "MOM!" as loud as his little lungs could take.

In a matter of seconds, the sorceress disappeared over the horizon. Kaytsu breathlessly fell onto his hands and knees. "MOM…!" he rasped. Suddenly, he started violently rip the tall grass from its rooting and thrashing the earth as all kinds of wild noises tore through his throat.

"Woa, woa, woa! Easy, there!" Zell came up from behind him and tried to take hold of the boy, but only managed in redirecting his fury. Kay got in a few good thumps on Zell, but Zell held him close until he quelled his anger. "It's okay…" he spoke soothingly as he rocked the youngster. He felt sorry for little Kaytsu and held him tightly as he cried for him.

Quistis and Irvine came running up. Quistis briefly glanced in the direction where Rinoa flew then looked to the boy. He looked so serene while Zell rocked him. Both Irvine and Quistis noted that not a single tear had rolled down his cheek. Quistis and Irvine exchanged glances.

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What's with Kay and not crying? What? Don't look at me; I don't know.

Anyway, so Kay has no parents, he's surrounded by SeeD caretakers… what do you think's gonna happen to the boy? Find out next time in… Altered Soul. Poor Kay.


	17. Sorceress Ultimecia

You know what happened in the last chaptyr, now let's finish this saga :') This chaptyr is extra long, but I'm sure you'll forgive me.

Thus far I've the chance to own Gartier, Ian, Kaytsu, Kumi, Lan, Kahl, Hett, Tracy, Detour, Fitz, and Azure, but all others are the intellectual property of Squaresoft. Thank you for the inspiration.

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In the blue-lit dormitory hallway resided a solitary figure. He rested his elbows on the concrete wall and sighed. A lot of weight had been put on this young man's shoulders and it robbed his mind of peace. He tried desperately to advert his attention to the loud noise of the crickets or the shimmering stars in the night, but his mind would not be so easily overpowered.

He brought his head down into the cross of his arms and stared off into the distance. "(Just stop thinking.)" Kaytsu begged himself.

Kay's mind ran back to when he and his mother had parted ways.

In a matter of seconds, the sorceress disappeared over the horizon. Kaytsu breathlessly fell onto his hands and knees. "MOM…!" he rasped.

The pain that ripped through his heart that day was unmatched by any other, and still resonated in his chest everyday since. Headmaster Trepe had taken little Kay under her wing, providing structure to the boy under the rigidy of military life, while, at the same time, trying to open him up about that awful day. Kay never spoke about it to anyone, and instead engrossed himself in his training. Using his father's Revolver, he quickly became one of Balamb's best fighters.

In the meantime, Sorceress Rinoa traveled the world over on her black wings. Though she had no control regarding her actions, her purpose was kept in tact. She was on a search for her husband. As the sorceress traveled through the mountains, the desert, the plains... through Galbadia, Balamb, and Timber... she obliterated every town and city making them share in her suffering. However, she retained no memory of the great disturbances she caused (Angel Wing saw to that).

Each city fell easily to Sorceress Rinoa. Even the great Esthar, who had forgotten their top-secret plan to defeat the sorceress, couldn't defend themselves against her vengeance. She quickly became the most powerful being on the planet... SeeD could do nothing to stop her.

Balamb Garden's prime directive was still to take out the sorceress, but Trepe found that they were always one step behind. Somewhere along the way, Balamb became a Red Cross of sorts, providing medical attention and various supplies to the cities left in the sorceress's wake.

Kaytsu hated this-- he hated to see the suffering and to look in their eyes and see...

His mother was gone, he came to realize.

Trepe was also dissatisfied with arriving moments too late, but in this way, she was able to collect some good news. Slowly but surely the sorceress's energy was decreasing. Angel Wing was soon to wear off. Rinoa would become conscious, and Trepe knew that _Rinoa_ wouldn't want to bring harm to the world.

She would send in someone Rinoa would recognize. She would send in...

"Kaytsu...?" called a familiar voice.

Kay raised his head from the folds of his jacket just enough for a quick glimpse at the well-known face, then hid his face once again. "Hi, Azure…" was his muffled response.

The young woman walked over to the sullen character and claimed the wall beside him, pushing her back up against it. He faced one way, she the other. Azure looked over in dismay. Was her presence inconsequential? "……" She sighed and looked frontward across the yard, not knowing quite what to say. "……She sure has put a lot on your shoulders…"

Kaytsu nodded.

There was a silence before Azure spoke again. "…It's not going to be easy."

Kaytsu's rose heatedly and peered downward at Azure with smoldering, gray eyes. "To destroy the sorceress? No, there is much ease in killing those who would wander the world, aimlessly annihilating each and every city! How could you think otherwise?"

Azure stood there, aghast at his merciless words. Azure stood with her mouth slightly agape, hardly knowing what to say. After a moment of silence, she looked back into those alluring eyes, searching for some compassion, crying, "She's your mother…!"

"She is not my mother! Every time I awake to a new ruin, I know this. _My_ mother, my real mother… she would never harm a single creature." His eyes danced a bit and he turned away from her. "No… she died… long ago. Victim of the sorceress."

The chirp of the crickets was completely inaudible to the pair, even in their silence. The young woman reached up for Kaytsu's face and rotated his to meet hers. There was so much emotion in her expression and so many words at the edge of her throat that they wouldn't escape. The only thing she could do was draw him in closer. In the end, the warmth of her lips seemed to express more sympathy and understanding than any ordinary words could have. A simple kiss was followed by a more involving one as Kay pressed her body firmly to his.

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The sorceress's waning power permitted recollections of the promise to reach Rinoa's possessed state. Slowly she drifted over to Edea's house.

There, in the field, she fell to her hands and knees. Her blackened wings quietly retreated into her back. Tears streamed from Rinoa's eyes as she sobbed from under her ashen tresses.

All at once, she cried out, "Squall, where are you!"

Unexpectedly, the grass crunched behind her. Rinoa turned her gray head. The horizon was lined with SeeDs, Balamb Garden hovering in the background. Out of the far corners of her eye, Rinoa made out a figure holding a… gunblade? She promptly turned herself around in the grass almost seeming to have some vitality left. She strained her neck to look upwards at the tall figure. It was…

"Squall…" she sighed lightly. Though she could see her love standing there above her, the immortal's spirit was eternally damaged, and she pleaded for him to take her life. "Please… end this. I can't go on like this…" Rinoa gradually bowed her head, obscuring her view with her long locks. "Please…"

Kaytsu's eyes twinkled in his pain as he brought the gunblade high over his head. Tears began to roll down his face, gathering at his chin as he affirmed, "…I'll… take care of you, mom."

Time all but froze as Rinoa looked up at her boy. "(Kaytsu? It can't be… He's only a little boy. He should be at home, where I left him. …Kaytsu? Nooo! He _is_ Kay! He's a… SeeD? It can't be! Why! All I wanted… is for you and your father to stay out of SeeD! I hate SeeD! _I hate SeeD!_)"

Suddenly, the earth was ripped up in a bright, white light…

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Black feathers ran past her tormented face. Her facial features sagged when she discovered that she was suddenly alone. She pushed herself up off the clay earth and looked over the area. The sky overhead was blackened with sinister clouds, and the land was barren. Seeing Balamb Garden overturned in the distance was the only indicator that she was still at Edea's.

She looked at the spot where Kaytsu once stood. Seeing nothing she spun on heal until she fell. "Kaytsu!" she screamed as she clutched a fistful of clay.

Swiftly a shadow ascended behind the young sorceress, encompassing her in its enormity. Rinoa inhaled sharply and for fear of the devil himself, she quickly rolled to face this unknown.

The beast drew in jagged breathes through its yawning mouth as it stared upon her with yellow eyes. There was much to feed on here… The black lion's posture was worsened as it hunched closer to Rinoa. She backed away fearfully on all fours, as he readied a strong backhand. He gently fanned his mighty paw in the air in front of her, and stole away her fear and grief.

Then the creature indulged her delusions and ensuring their reality, and, speaking both to and through Rinoa, groaned, "**_It is not my fault. It was SeeD that condemned Kaytsu to death_**."

It was Griever, she finally discerned… She put out her hand, and the gentle lion helped her to her feet. Her mind was then occupied on getting the hell off the land in which her son was slain. She took to the air and swore never to touch the land again. It was there in the sky, then, that she presided over her promised land anticipating her knight's return. It was there that she compassionately restricted herself and her uncontrollable fury from the outside world as she patiently waited... And it was there that, at her most desperate hour, Junction Machine Ellone was due to arrive aboard the Deep Sea Research Center…

The rest is history.

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Yeah, yeah, yeah… Ya got the rest of your story. There ya go…

It was great, wasn't it! Now _that's_ a rap! It was totally wicked! It was all that and a bag of--- ehem I seemed to have lost my composure.

Could all of you now leave a message that would be useful to any reader who likes to read the replies first? Thanks. Give them the overall feel of the story and the –why- they should or shouldn't read it.

Happy Reading to all of you!

Tiger-ES


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